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KINGDOM SERIES 
Vol. I 


Christ’s Kingdom 
and Reign 


v 

BY 

IR M. RIGGLE 


GOSPEL TRUMPET COMPANY 


ANDERSON, IND. 



Copyright, 1918, 

BY 

GOSPEL TRUMPET COMPANY 


FEB 18 1918 


©CI.A4 92299 



f 


BY THE SAME AUTHOR 


Christ's Second Coming and What 

Will Follow 1 ........ .$1.00 

The Christian Church, Its Rise and 

Progress.-.$1.00 

Man, His Present and Future.60 

Bible Readings.60 

Christian Baptism, the Lord's Sup¬ 
per and Feetwashing .75 
















































































































































* 






































































/ 









































CONTENTS 


What Constitutes a Kingdom. 9 

Christ’s Kingdom Present. 12 

Nature of Christ’s Kingdom. 25 

Brief History of the Millennial Theory.... 43 

The Kingdom of Grace..... 52 

Christ’s Kingdom Foretold by the Prophets. 55 

The Christian Dispensation.. 93 

“The Time is Fulfilled”. 100 

Christ on David’s Throne.I.106 

The Great Redemptive Reign.120 

The Reign of God’s Saints on Earth.138 

Two Periods of Reigning Prophesied.146 

The Thousand Years’ Reign with Christ.155 

Different Phases of the Kingdom Explained.168 

The Lion and the Lamb shall Feed Together..175 

There shall be no more an Infant of Days.180 

The Desert shall Blossom as the Rose.187 

The Nations shall Learn War no More.193 

The Binding and Loosing of the Dragon.199 

When shall the Earth be Full of the Knowledge 

of the Lord?. 233 

What About the Heathen?.237 

Will there be Another Chance?.289 

The Future Kingdom of Glory.298 

























WHAT CONSTITUTES A KINGDOM? 


The essentials to the complete establishment 
and existence of a kingdom are five in number: 
(1) A king as the ruling head; (2) A throne 
from which he issues his decrees; (3) Territory 
over which he has jurisdiction; (4) Subjects in 
that territory to rule over; and (5) Laws to 
govern the subjects. All these are found in 
the temporal kingdoms of the world. We must, 
then, look for these essentials in the kingdom of 
heaven. If in the economy of divine grace— 
the revealed plan of redemption—and in the 
future glories of the eternal world, these essen¬ 
tials exist, then we have, here and hereafter, the 
everlasting kingdom of God. In the language 
of Dr. Adam Clark, “The kingdom of grace 
and the kingdom of glory form the endless gov¬ 
ernment of Christ.” 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD-THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN 

The terms “kingdom of God” and “kingdom 
of heaven” are found more than one hundred 
times in the New Testament. We also have 
“the kingdom of Christ” and “the kingdom of 
God’s dear Son.” All these refer either to the 
dispensation of divine grace here or to the fu- 
9 


10 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


ture state of the redeemed in the eternal world. 
The dispensation of the gospel, the dispensation 
of infinite mercy, and the manifestation of eter¬ 
nal truth by Christ Jesus, is called the kingdom 
of heaven. Its ruling head is the Sovereign of 
heaven and earth; its laws, all the moral pre¬ 
cepts of the gospel; its subjects, all who believe 
in Jesus (Christ never saved a soul he did not 
govern.) ; its territory and field of operation, the 
whole world. 

The ministry of John, the forerunner of 
Christ, was “the beginning of the gospel of 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). 
His first announcement to the people was: “Re¬ 
pent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 
Christ began his Galilean ministry “preaching 
the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is 
at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” 
(Mark 1:14, 15). Thus we see that the door 
into the kingdom of grace and salvation was 
opened by Christ during his personal ministry. 
In Luke 16: 16 it is recorded that people entered 
the kingdom from John’s time on, for “the law 
and the prophets were until John: since that 
time, the kingdom of God is preached, and every 
man presseth into it.” 


WHAT CONSTITUTES A KINGDOM? 


11 


Jesus taught that the unconverted must seek 
to enter the kingdom. “Seek first the kingdom 
of God, and his righteousness; and all these 
things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). 
“Suffer little children to come unto me, and for¬ 
bid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 
. . . Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom 

of God as a little child shall in no wise enter 
therein.” “Verily I say unto you, Except ye 
be converted, and become as little children, ye 
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” 
“Except a man be born again, he can not see 
the kingdom of God.” Of the Jews who trusted 
in themselves that they were righteous, Jesus 
said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed 
the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, 
ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of 
heaven” (Matt. 5:20). 

All these texts clearly show that the terms 
“kingdom of God” and “kingdom of heaven,” 
are used interchangeably and applied directly 
to the dispensation of full salvation, ushered in 
by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is called the king¬ 
dom of heaven because God designed that his 
kingdom of grace here should resemble the king¬ 
dom of glory above. We are taught to pray, 
“Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” 


12 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


“The kingdom of God is not meat and drink,” 
that is, it does not consist in the gratification 
of sensual passions, natural appetites, or world¬ 
ly ambitions, but it is “righteousness, and peace, 
and joy in the Holy Ghost.” The glories of 
heaven will consist of righteousness without any 
mixture of sin, peace without strife or conten¬ 
tion, and joy in the Holy Ghost—spiritual joy, 
without a mixture of misery. These, by the 
grace of God, are to be enjoyed right here on 
earth. The very elements of heaven itself are 
possessed and realized in actual experience by all 
those who are washed in the blood of Christ. In 
the language of the poet, 

‘ ‘ We go not to heaven, salvation to know, 

But Jesus came down to make whiter than snow. ” 

Therefore we see how appropriately the term, 
“the kingdom of heaven,” is applied to the great 
work of salvation. 


CHRISTS KINGDOM PRESENT 

We have already seen what the essentials to 
the complete establishment and existence of a 
kingdom are. The question now is, Are we to 
look for these in a future age, or do we have 



CHRIST’S KINGDOM PRESENT 


13 


them in the present dispensation of divine grace ? 

Millennialists contend that we do not now 
have these essentials to the kingdom of God, 
but that we shall have them in an age to follow 
the present. In the name of the God of the 
Bible, we affirm that we now have, in this last and 
best dispensation, every essential to the perfect 
establishment and existence of a kingdom. 

A KING AS THE RULING HEAD 

Christ is king throughout the present dispen¬ 
sation. He was not made a king by some legis¬ 
lative act, but he was born a king. When the 
wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, they 
inquired, “Where is he that is born king of the 
Jews?” When Jesus stood before Pilate, he 
said, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my 
kingdom were of this world, then would my 
servants fight, that I should not be delivered to 
the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from 
hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou 
a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that 
I am a king. To this end was I born, and for 
this cause came I into the world” (John 18: 36, 
37). Here Christ acknowledged that he had a 
kingdom. He terms it “my kingdom.” Pilate 
at once asked, “Art thou a king then?” Jesus 


14 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


answered, “Thou sayest that I am a king.” 
This is equivalent to: “It is true that I am a 
king. To this end was I born, and for this cause 
came I into the world.” 

He came to set up and to maintain a spiritual 
government, and this government is established 
in and by the truth. All who love the truth will 
hear his voice and attend to the spiritual doc¬ 
trine he preaches. Nathaniel, who was “an 
Israelite indeed,” and free from guile, addressed 
Jesus thus: “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; 
thou art the King of Israel” (John 1:49) ; and 
Christ did not reprove Nathaniel for speaking 
thus. 

At the time of Christ’s triumphant entry into 
Jerusalem “the whole multitude of the disciples 
began to rejoice and praise God with a loud 
voice for all the mighty works that they had 
seen; saying, Blessed be the King that cometh 
in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and 
glory in the highest” (Luke 19: 37, 38). And 
“much people that were come to the feast . . . 
went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: 
Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the 
name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had 
found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, 
Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold thy King 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM PRESENT 


15 


cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt” (John 12: 
12-15). 

From these texts we learn two things: First, 
that Christ, even during his personal ministry, 
had a kingdom; second, that he was then reign¬ 
ing as king and was acknowledged as such by 
the multitude of his disciples. They were not 
mistaken in this, for the inspired writer informs 
us that “all this was done, that it might be ful¬ 
filled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 
Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King 
cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an 
ass, and a colt the foal of an ass” (Matt. 21: 
4, 5). Thus it is an established fact that Christ 
Jesus is King. And if he is king he must have 
a kingdom, for a king presupposes a kingdom. 

The evangelistic prophet Isaiah foretold the 
coming of the Messiah and his office and work 
in these words: “For the Lord is our judge, 
the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; 
he will save us” (Isa. 33:22). From this it 
is seen that at the very time Jesus Christ was to 
be king, he would save his people. In that day 
the apostle said: “Behold now is the day of 
salvation.” Therefore Christ was, and is now, 
king. In Rev. 17:14 it is written: “The Lamb 


16 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


shall overcome them: he is Lord of lords, and 
King of kings.” 

There is a sense in which Satan robbed man 
of the first dominion, and usurped the place of 
king, or prince, of this world. Jesus himself 
called him “the prince of this world.” For four 
thousand long years he held the human family 
under the dominion and power of sin and death; 
hence, death reigned from Adam until Christ. 
But Messiah came to dethrone the devil and to 
set up his everlasting kingdom of righteousness 
instead. Before people are saved, they allow 
Satan to rule in their lives; to make his throne 
in their very hearts; and when Satan is en¬ 
throned there, he holds the reins and rules the 
man. This accounts for all the unrest, discord, 
anarchy, jealousy, envy, murder, and, in fact, 
all the wickedness that abounds in the individual 
life, the home life, the community, the state, the 
nation, and the world. The law was given to 
restrain wickedness, until Christ should come. 
Satan must be cast out; not out of heaven nor 
out of the world, as some assert, but out of his 
place of rule in the human heart. 

Jesus illustrated his mission thus: “But if I 
with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt 
the kingdom of God is come upon you. When 



CHRIST'S KINGDOM PRESENT 


17 


a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods 
are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall 
come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh 
from him his armor wherein he trusted, and 
divideth his spoils.” The strong man who keeps 
the palace refers to the devil. The stronger 
than he, who casts him out, is Christ. And in 
fulfilment he said, “Now is the prince of this 
world cast out.” Through Christ’s death, he 
destroyed “him that had power of death, that is, 
the devil” (Heb. 2: 14). Thus by means of his 
own death, which made an atonement for sin 
and procured the almighty energy of the Holy 
Spirit, he rendered useless and ineffectual all 
the operations of him who had the power, or 
influence, to bring death into the world by sin; 
that is, the devil. Christ, by his death on the 
cross and his triumphant resurrection from the 
grave, became vested with all power in heaven 
and in earth. He broke the bands of death 
asunder, he destroyed the victory of the grave, 
and extracted the sting of death itself, thus 
purchasing full salvation from all sin. 

Peter says: “The God of our fathers raised 
up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. 
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be 
a prince and a Savior, for to give repentance 


18 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


to Israel, and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5: 
30, 31). Christ is called “the prince of life” 
(Acts 3: 15). Hear him: “All power is given 
unto me in heaven and in earth.” Mark well 
the fact that Christ is now a prince—was 
raised from the dead a prince. A “prince is 
the one of highest rank; a sovereign; a mon¬ 
arch.”— Webster. Thus when we speak of the 
princes of the world we include emperors and 
kings. This is why the Revelator was bold to 
affirm that Jesus Christ is “the prince of the 
kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5). Just forty 
days after the resurrection, Christ ascended into 
heaven and took his seat at the right hand of 
the Father, “crowned with glory and honor” 
(Heb. 2:9). Thus he was “b}^ the right hand 
of God exalted” (Acts 2:33). “Wherefore 
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him 
a name which is above every name.” 

The reader will note that this took place 
when Christ rose from the dead and ascended 
into heaven. “Which he wrought in Christ, 
when he raised him from the dead , and set him 
at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far 
above all principality, and power, and might, 
and dominion, and every name that is named, not 
only in this world, but also in that which is to 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM PRESENT 


19 


come: and hath put all things under his feet, 
and gave him to be the head over all things to 
the church” (Eph. 1:20-22). This is de¬ 
cisive. Christ is now king and ruling head, su¬ 
preme over all, the sovereign of both heaven 
and earth. “Our Lord Jesus Christ . 
who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords” 
(1 Tim. 6:14, 15). He is king not merely in 
name, but in fact. As soon as he took his seat 
at the right hand of the Father, Paul declares 
that he was “croxvned with glory and honor.” 
In the Revelation Christ’s kingdom is brought 
to view under the figure of a white horse and 
its rider. “I saw, and behold a white horse: 
and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown 
was given unto him: and he went forth conquer¬ 
ing, and to conquer” (Rev. 6:2). 

The uniform testimony of all the foregoing 
texts proves conclusively that not in a future 
age, but when God raised Christ from the dead, 
he “set him at his own right hand in the heavenly 
places, far above all principality, and power, 
and might, and dominion, and every name that 
is named, . . . and hath put all things under 
his feet, and gave him to be head over all things 
to the church.” What could be clearer? We 
here have the first essential to the establishment 


20 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


and existence of a kingdom—Christ, sovereign 
and king over all heaven and earth; the ruling 
head of his church. 

A THRONE FROM WHICH THE KING ISSUES HIS 
DECREES 

“And of the angels he saith; Who maketh his 
angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, 
is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness 
is the scepter of thy kingdom” (Heb. 1: 7, 8). 
The term “throne” means a seat occupied by 
one having power or authority; a place iden- 
tified with power and grandeur; sovereign power 
or dignity; an elevated position; an exalted 
state. When Christ ascended into heaven, his 
Father exalted him and gave to him his throne. 
Christ says: “I also overcame, and am set down 
with my Father in his throne” (Rev. 3:21). 
From this lofty throne in the heavens, Christ 
now executes, through the agencies of the Holy 
Spirit, his word, and his church, the great sal¬ 
vation he purchased upon the cross. From this 
throne he issues his decrees and rules through¬ 
out all the universe. 

“Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.” 
It is in both worlds and extends over all time 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM PRESENT 


21 


and eternity. “All power is given unto me,” 
said Christ, “both in heaven and in earth.” His 
throne and dominion extend to the consumma¬ 
tion of all things. Christ has the same glory, 
unlimited power, and authority that he had with 
the Father before the world began (John 17:5). 

“A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of 
thy kingdom.” Scepter means an emblem, or 
badge, of authority; the appropriate ensign of 
royalty. Christ’s kingdom is a kingdom of 
righteousness. In this world righteousness ex¬ 
alts the individual, the community, the nation. 
It is that which exalts the untold millions to the 
high dignity and glories of heaven itself. 

Christ’s throne is called a “throne of grace,” 
to which we are invited to come—“Come boldly 
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain 
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” 
(Heb. 4:16). Here again we have positive 
proof that Christ’s kingdom is present. This 
is not spoken to people in some future age or 
time, but to us in this dispensation of mercy 
and salvation. Let us therefore come boldly 
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain 
mercy. 

(1) There is now a throne of grace, a pro¬ 
pitiatory, the place where God and man are to 


22 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


meet; (2) This is sprinkled with the atoning 
blood of Christ, who taketh away the sin of 
the world; (3) All men are invited to come to 
this throne by faith, and obtain mercy and grace 
—salvation; hence Christ’s throne is present. 

From this lofty throne in heaven Christ is¬ 
sues the decrees of his kingdom. And not only 
does he reign in person in the heavens above, he 
is also enthroned in the hearts of his children. 
In a spiritual sense his throne of holiness is 
established in our hearts, and he reigns in the 
lives of his people. 

A TERRITORY OVER WHICH HE HAS JURISDICTION 

Open your Bible to Matt. 28:18: “And 
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All 
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” 
Through his death and resurrection he became 
invested with all power, not only in this world 
but also in heaven above. In the untold ages of 
the past God said to his Son, “Ask of me, and 
I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheri¬ 
tance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for 
thy possession” (Psa. 2:7, 8). “His dominion 
shall be from sea to sea, and from the river 
even to the ends of the earth.” Since he has 
been exalted above all principality, powers, 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM PRESENT 


23 


might, and dominion, “all the angels of God 
worship him” (Heb. 1:6), as well as all the 
myriads of redeemed souls in Paradise (see 
Rev. 5:9-13). 

His territory covers all heaven and earth. 
The gospel message is to all nations in all the 
world, and this gospel is the “power of God 
unto salvation to every one that believeth.” 
Christ not only rules throughout his church on 
earth, but in a general sense he even rules in 
the kingdoms of men and governs the nations. 
He is the sovereign over all kings, magistrates, 
and governors. 

SUBJECTS IN THIS TERRITORY TO RULE OVER 

“Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right 
hand of God; angels and authorities and powers 
being made subject unto him” (1 Pet. 3:22). 
This text is conclusive proof that Christ is now 
king over all heaven. And of his church on 
earth it is said: “The church is subject unto 
Christ” (Eph. 5:24). So Christ has subjects 
in this dispensation, both in heaven and in earth. 
Wherever the gospel is preached in all the world, 
there will be found disciples of the Lord Jesus, 
and wherever those disciples are found, praise, 


24 


CHRIST'S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


honor, and glory will be given to Christ Jesus, 
their Redeemer. 

LAWS TO GOVERN THE SUBJECTS 

One universal law governs all heaven and 
earth. This is the law of love to God and fel¬ 
low creatures. This is expressed in these two 
principles, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself.” 
These principles have existed from all eternity 
past, and will exist to all eternity future. Upon 
these principles the Mosaic law rested; but when 
the fulness of time came “God, who at sundry 
times and in divers manners spake in time past 
unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these 
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he 
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he 
made the worlds” (Heb. 1:1,2). 

The gospel is an expression of the principles 
of that higher law. It is this law of love to 
God and fellow creatures that governs all heav¬ 
en, and this same law is revealed and expressed 
in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is 
the standard of government and rule in the 
church of God now in this dispensation. 

Instead of looking forward to a supposed Mil¬ 
lennial age, in which the kingdom of heaven will 


NATURE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM 


25 


be established upon earth, the Scriptures clearly 
show that this kingdom is already come, and we 
who are saved are actually living therein. “He 
hath delivered us from the power of darkness; 
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his 
dear Son” (Col. 1:13). 


NATURE OF CHRISTS KINGDOM 

The idea that the Messiah would establish a 
literal kingdom upon the earth originated with 
the Jews. Many of them placed literal inter¬ 
pretations upon those prophecies which fore¬ 
told the coming of Christ, and as a result they 
expected him to set up a temporal throne, sub¬ 
due the nations, and restore again the kingdom 
of Israel. This gross error led them to reject 
Christ, oppose his spiritual kingdom, and con¬ 
sent to his death. They wanted only an earthly 
kingdom, and hence rejected and crucified the 
Son of God. He did not meet their expecta¬ 
tion, therefore he became a stumbling-block to 
them. He said, “Ye do err, not knowing the 
scriptures”; “my kingdom is not of this world: 
if my kingdom were of this world, then would 
my servants fight” (John 18:36). At one 



26 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


time they tried to take him by force and make 
him a king, but he departed from them. 

His kingdom is purely spiritual and divine. 
If it were of a secular nature, then his servants 
would have contended. They would have op¬ 
posed force with force, as the kingdoms of this 
world do in their wars. But since his kingdom 
is not of this world, no resistance was made. 
Jesus acknowledged himself a king, saying, “To 
this end was I born, and for this cause came I 
into the world”; that is, to set up a kingdom 
and reign as a king. But he clearly sets forth 
the nature of his kingdom when he declared it 
to be, not temporal or literal, but purely spiri¬ 
tual—“not of this world.” Through all his 
teaching he endeavored to show the people that 
his mission was to establish the kingdom of 
heaven in the hearts of men and there reign as 
King of peace. “And when he was demanded of 
the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should 
come, he answered them and said, The kingdom 
of God cometh not with observation. Neither 
shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, 
the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17: 
20, 21). This positive text stands in square 
contradiction to the teaching of the modern 
advocates of a future literal reign upon earth. 


NATURE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM 


27 


The Pharisees evidently believed that Messiah 
would establish a temporal kingdom and set up 
his throne in Jerusalem. So as Christ claimed 
to be the true Messiah, they naturally asked 
him when the kingdom of heaven should come. 
How clear his answer: “The kingdom of God 
cometh not with observation.” This would not 
be true were it a literal kingdom, for such would 
come with observation. The fact that it “com¬ 
eth not with observation,” or outward show, 
positively proves it to be a spiritual kingdom; 
Christ ruling and reigning in the hearts of his 
people. Yes, dear reader, “it is your Father’s 
good pleasure to give you the kingdom,” even 
“the kingdom of heaven,” a kingdom greater 
than Alexander or Napoleon ever swayed scep¬ 
ter over. And all this you will find in the full 
salvation of Jesus Christ. 

The kingdom of God—the glorious religion 
of the Messiah—did not come with great out¬ 
ward display, pomp, or show, but as leaven, 
which quietly leavens the whole lump, to which 
Jesus himself likened it. Mark well this point; 
it is another indication of the spiritual nature 
of the kingdom. “The kingdom of God is with¬ 
in you.” Some render this “among you,” and 
others, “in the midst of you”; but any of these 


28 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


statements proves that since the kingdom was 
then among men, it is not a future thing. I am 
inclined to believe that the Common Version 
gives Christ’s true meaning. It might be well 
to notice that the Greek word from which this 
is taken is entos. This word appears in but 
one other text in the New Testament—“Thou 
blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within 
the cup and platter, that the outside of them 
may be clean also” (Matt. 23:26). To sub¬ 
stitute “among” for “within” in this last text 
would be ridiculous. 

Christ was simply teaching that the Jews 
were looking for the wrong thing. They ex¬ 
pected a literal reign, and he was endeavoring 
to show them that his reign is spiritual and that 
his kingdom is in the hearts of his people. By 
the expression “within you,” he by no means 
meant to convey the idea that his kingdom was 
in those wicked Pharisees, but that his reign and 
kingdom was not literally located “here” or 
“there,” but in the hearts of men. 

Possessing the kingdom and enjoying this 
glorious reign is not deferred to some future 
age, but Christ made very clear the fact that 
it was a present reality. The nature of the 
kingdom is clearly seen in the five essentials 


NATURE OF CHRIST S KINGDOM 


29 


that constitute it. Christ is King. His spiri¬ 
tual domain extends over heaven and earth. His 
throne is a spiritual throne, called a throne of 
grace and holiness, to which we can now come 
for favors from his hand. The subjects of his 
kingdom are spiritual men and women who, as 
“living stones, are built up a spiritual house, 
... to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable 
to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5, 
A. S. V.). And the law that governs this king¬ 
dom is a spiritual law. Jesus said, “The words 
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they 
are life.” The unconverted are instructed to 
seek it: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, 
and his righteousness; and all these things shall 
be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). 

The kingdom of God is spiritual because it 
has a spiritual door of entrance. The moment 
an individual is saved from his sins, he is in¬ 
ducted into the kingdom of God. “At the same 
time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who 
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And 
Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him 
in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto 
you, Except ye be converted, and become as lit¬ 
tle children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom 
of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble 


30 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


himself as this little child, the same is greatest 
in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:1-4). 
The language of this text is very clear. The 
kingdom of heaven is a present reality. Jesus 
was not speaking with reference to a future age, 
but to the dispensation of salvation. To be 
great in the kingdom of heaven is to fill a place 
of usefulness and efficiency in the work and 
service of God. The way to reach such a place 
of usefulness and efficiency is to humble ourselves 
as little children. 

The only door of entrance into this kingdom 
is conversion. In Christ’s talk with Nicodemus 
the same truth is expressed—“Except a man be 
born again, he can not see the kingdom of God”; 
“Except a man be born of water and of the 
Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of 
God.” At another time Jesus said, “It is easier 
for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than 
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of 
God. And they that heard it said, Who then 
can be saved?” (Luke 18:24, 26). Salvation 
and the kingdom of God are here classed alto¬ 
gether. Jesus plainly taught that in order to 
be saved, people must, in one sense, forsake all. 
And of course this includes riches. It is hard 
for those who are rich in this world’s goods, and 


NATURE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM 


31 


who have their hearts set upon their riches, to 
comply with these demands. 

Entering the kingdom and getting saved is 
the same thing. Here again we see the spiritual 
nature of Christ’s kingdom. Since it is through 
the new birth that men enter the kingdom, there 
are none in the real kingdom of God but those 
who are saved. The work of placing men and 
women in the kingdom belongs to God, “who 
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, 
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his 
dear Son” (Col. 1: 13). Since the new birth is 
a spiritual birth, and the door into the kingdom 
is a spiritual door, it is further proved that the 
kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom; for how 
could a man enter a literal kingdom through a 
spiritual door? 

“For I say unto you, Among those that are 
born of women there is not a greater prophet 
than John the Baptist: but he that is least in 
the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 
7:28). Since the dispensation of the Holy 
Spirit was fully ushered in at Pentecost, and 
the kingdom came in all its fulness and glory in 
the outpouring of the Holy Ghost and the es¬ 
tablishing of the Christian church as a separate, 
distinct institution for the salvation of the 


32 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


world, the least child of God has greater privi¬ 
leges and higher attainments in the divine life 
than John had, for he died before Pentecost. 

Jesus saith unto them, “Verily I say unto 
you, That the publicans and harlots go into the 
kingdom of God before you.” “Woe unto you, 
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut 
up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye 
neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them 
that are entering to go in” (Matt. 23:13). 
These texts also show that the kingdom was 
present at the time Jesus spoke these words and 
that people were entering it. When the dis¬ 
ciples went forth preaching the kingdom of God, 
they did not speak of something future, or point 
people to a millennial age, but they declared the 
blessings and privileges to be enjoyed in the 
present. People so understood it, and as fast 
as they accepted the gospel, they pressed into 
the kingdom. 

Paul makes a definite statement on this point 
in Rom. 14:17—“For the kingdom of God is 
not meat and drink; but righteousness, and 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” This text 
is decisive. It shows clearly the nature of 
Christ’s kingdom. “The kingdom of God is 
within you” (Luke 17:21). 


NATURE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM 


S3 


“And having been questioned by the Phar¬ 
isees, when the reign of God doth come, he an¬ 
swered, . . . The reign of God is within 

you.”— Young's Bible Translation. This is too 
clear to need comment. Some latter-day preach¬ 
ers try to evade the truth contained in these 
texts by affirming that Jesus and Paul did not 
mean what they said. Wilson, who translated 
the Emphatic Diaglott, was a Second Adventist 
and believed in a literal kingdom. He renders 
it “among you”; but nothing is gained by this, 
for it would still prove that instead of the es¬ 
tablishment of the kingdom in a future age, it 
was then present among the people. I believe 
“within you” is the correct rendering and ex¬ 
presses the truth Jesus wished to convey. Be¬ 
side the Common Version, it is rendered “within 
you” by the following translations: American 
Standard Revised, Bible Union, Young, Saw¬ 
yer, and Campbell. “Righteousness, and peace, 
and joy, in the Holy Ghost,” constitute the ele¬ 
ments of the kingdom of God, and all these are 
found in the hearts and lives of the fully saved. 

In Christ’s teachings he likened the kingdom 
of heaven to many different things. This he did 
in order to bring out its different phases. A 
careful study of the different parables Jesus 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


used with reference to his kingdom reveals the 
fact that it is purely spiritual in its nature and 
also that it is a present reality in this dis¬ 
pensation. For example, in Matthew 13: 11 Je¬ 
sus said to his disciples, “It is given unto you 
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heav¬ 
en.” He spoke this directly with reference to 
the parable of the Sower, but it has a present 
application. 

In Matt. 13: 24-30, 36-43, we have the par¬ 
able of the Wheat and the Tares. The intro¬ 
duction of this parable reads as follows: “The 
kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which 
sowed good seed in his field.” In the interpre¬ 
tation of this parable, Jesus said, “He that 
soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The 
field is the world; the good seed are the children 
of the kingdom; but the tares are the children 
of the wicked one”; “the enemy that sowed them 
is the devil.” Here, then, we have two kingdoms 
in this world: the kingdom of God and the king¬ 
dom of Satan. The tares are all in the kingdom 
of Satan. None make up the kingdom of God 
but the “good seed,” for “the good seed are the 
children of the kingdom.” The wheat and the 
tares will grow together in the world until the 
end of time, then the final separation will take 


NATURE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM 


35 


place. The one class will be cast into the fur¬ 
nace of fire, and the other class, called the right¬ 
eous, shall then shine forth as the sun, in the 
kingdom of the Father. This is another proof 
that the kingdom of God is now present and of 
a spiritual nature. 

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a 
net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of 
every kind: which when it was full, they drew to 
shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into 
vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be 
at the end of the world: the angels shall come 
forth, and sever the wicked from among the 
just, and shall cast them into the furnace of 
fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of 
teeth” (Matt. 13:47-50). 

Like a net cast into the sea, when the gospel 
goes into a community, there are some who real¬ 
ly accept it, meet all the conditions requisite to 
salvation, and as a result are saved and enter 
the kingdom of God. They are in the kingdom 
by possession. There are others who, under 
the same preaching, simply get into a mere pro¬ 
fession of the religion of Jesus Christ. These 
are in the kingdom in a nominal sense; that is, 
in name only, or by profession. It was in this 
sense that Judas Iscariot was found among the 


36 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


true disciples of Jesus, even after he had become 
a thief. It was in this same sense that Simon 
Magus continued with Philip during his work 
in Samaria. But in the end of the world a final 
separation will be made between the righteous 
and the wicked, between those who serve God 
and those who do not. 

There were hypocrites in the days of Christ, 
and no doubt there always will be. There is also 
in the world a true Christianity, a clean and 
pure church. At the same time there is a false 
church, a counterfeit Christianity. All these 
are looked upon by the unprofessed Christian 
world as the kingdom, or church; but the final 
day of reckoning will clearly reveal which is the 
true and which is the false. 

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a 
merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who 
when he had found one pearl of great price, 
went and sold all that he had, and bought it” 
(Matt. 13:45, 46). The pearl of great price 
here referred to is salvation. It is the most 
valuable thing that any one can possess; for it 
is of more worth than all the gold and silver, 
rubies and diamonds of a million worlds like 
this. Earth’s riches, honors, and pleasures, fade 
into insignificance when compared to the value 


NATURE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM 


37 


of salvation. In order to possess this pearl, 
the wise merchant of the parable sold all that 
he had. In this Jesus meant to convey to our 
minds the fact that in order to become a possess¬ 
or of salvation we must forsake all. “Whosoever 
he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, 
he can not be my disciple.” Paul testified on 
this point, “What things were gain to me, those 
I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I 
count all things but loss, . . . that I might 

win Christ.” Mark the fact that the kingdom 
of heaven is like this. Here again is positive 
proof that the kingdom of God is present and 
spiritual in its nature. 

“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as 
if a man should cast seed into the ground; and 
should sleep, and rise night and day, and the 
seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not 
how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of 
herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that 
the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is 
brought forth, immediately he putteth in the 
sickle, because the harvest is come.” This par¬ 
able is recorded by Mark only. The doctrine 
of the kingdom, received in a good and honest 
heart, is like seed sown by a man in his ground 
which has been properly prepared to receive it. 


38 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


The grace of God is planted in our hearts, and 
day by day it grows and develops until we be¬ 
come ripened for the future, eternal, glory- 
world. The seed thus sown in honest hearts 
brings forth fruit with patience, and this fruit 
daily increases, though we do not know how the 
word and the Spirit effect this increase. 

How a plant grows is a mystery which the 
wisest philosophers in the universe can not fully 
explain. “Consider the lilies how they grow: 
they toil not, neither do they spin.” Spiritual 
growth is not effected by self-energy; but if we 
meet the conditions of growth, it will continue 
of itself. The kingdom of God which is planted 
in the soul by the word of life, under the in¬ 
fluence of the Holy Spirit, is first very small, 
like a blade, but it is full of promises; for a 
good blade shows there is a good seed at the 
bottom and that the soil in which it is grown is 
good also. Next the ear, because of a strong 
stalk. Faith and love in a believer’s soul show 
increase abundantly. Then the full corn, the 
soul purified from all unrighteousness and made 
a partaker of the divine nature. This repre¬ 
sents the ripened grain. After we are saved and 
sanctified this growth continues until we are 
ripened, and then he putteth in the sickle and 


NATURE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM 


39 


gathers the harvest in the future, eternal state. 
Here again, we are made to see the spiritual na¬ 
ture of Christ’s kingdom. 

“And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the 
kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall 
we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard 
seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less 
than all the seeds that be in the earth: but 
when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh 
greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great 
branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge 
under the shadow of it” (Mark 4: 30-32). This 
parable is a representation of the progress of 
the gospel in the world, and I believe it com¬ 
prehends the growth of grace in the human soul; 
that grace which leads the soul into the fulness 
of glory. 

The gospel began in a very small way, by the 
personal ministry of Christ and the instru¬ 
mentality of a few humble fishermen, along the 
shores of Galilee and in the villages of Judea. 
But although it began in such a small and hum¬ 
ble way, it has spread from hamlet to city, from 
vale to hill, from the river to the ends of the 
earth; until in every nation of the earth today, 
and on almost every island of the sea are found 
true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the 


40 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


kingdom of grace. Like a mighty tree whose 
branches stretch forth, it has reached out into 
all the world. This kingdom penetrates the re¬ 
motest corners of the earth today, and its 
blessed gospel is ringing out in every nation. 
“It is cutting its way through the impregnable 
jungles of Africa to the great lakes at its core. 
It has broken through the granite walls of 
China, and entrenched itself in the heart of 
Peking. It has pierced the heavy vale of 
Korean shame, and kissed with its warming 
beams every island of the sea, every nation of 
the earth.” Blessed be the name of the Lord 
forever. While monarchies have risen and fal¬ 
len, crumbled, and passed away, the kingdom 
set up by the Lord Jesus Christ has stood the 
storms of ages, and will stand when this old 
world is wrapped in mighty sheets of flame. 

In Matt. 20: 1-16 we have the parable of the 
Laborers in the Vineyard. A careful study of 
this parable shows that it has a present appli¬ 
cation. Mark the fact that Jesus said the king¬ 
dom of heaven is like this. Again, “The king¬ 
dom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a 
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, 
till the whole was leavened” (Matt. 13:33). 
This, no doubt, is intended to show how, from a 


NATURE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM 


41 


very small beginning, the gospel of Christ would 
pervade all the nations of the world and fill 
them with righteousness and holiness; that is, 
that the influence of the gospel would some day 
be felt in all the world. It also has, no doubt, 
an application to the individual life and expe¬ 
rience, for when the grace of God is implanted 
in our hearts, it is intended, like leaven, even¬ 
tually to eliminate from us everything unlike 
the divine character and to make us more and 
more like Christ, changing us into the same 
image, from glory to glory. Thus we see that 
when Christ taught men about the kingdom of 
God, he did not point them to a future age, but 
in all his parables and lessons on it he dem¬ 
onstrates that it is present and of a spiritual 
nature. 

When a soul fully complies with all the Bible 
conditions, then by the work of conversion—the 
new birth—it enters through Christ the door 
into the church, or kingdom, of God. This is 
the sense in which the door of the kingdom was 
opened and men entered into it during Christ’s 
personal ministry. But even after conversion 
there yet remains in the heart of the believer a 
sinful nature, the carnal mind. This causes an 
inward warfare between the flesh and the spirit. 


42 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


Before Christ can reign supreme, this inward 
foe must be destroyed, the throne of iniquity 
must be obliterated. This is accomplished in 
the glorious work of entire sanctification. So 
the fulness of God in the baptism of the Holy 
Ghost and the complete establishment of his 
throne of holiness in our hearts is something for 
which the believer must seek, therefore he prays, 
“Thy kingdom come’’ (Matt. 6: 10). There is 
a sense in which God’s people can pray this 
prayer in any meeting where they desire the 
salvation of the lost. Their cry is that the king¬ 
dom of God may come into the hearts of the 
people by the salvation of their souls. The 
promise is, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your 
Father’s good pleasure to give you the king¬ 
dom.” “The very God of peace sanctify you 
wholly.” 

When the believer presents himself a living 
sacrifice upon Christ the altar, when the last 
condition is fully met in a complete death to 
sin and self, then the Holy Ghost, with the blood 
of Christ, destroys the body of sin and moves in, 
in all his fulness as a personal comforter, to 
abide with the soul forever. “God sitteth upon 
the throne of his holiness.” “The reign of God 
is within you.” This is the sense in which the 


HISTORY OF MILLENNIAL THEORY 43 


“saints of the Most High” “take the kingdom 
and possess the kingdom forever, even forever 
and ever.” This kingdom is “righteousness, and 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” 


BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MILLENNIAL THEORY 

The idea of a millennial reign proceeded from 
Judaism, for “among the Jews the representa¬ 
tion was growing, that the Messiah would reign 
a thousand years upon earth. Such products of 
Jewish imagination passed over into Christian¬ 
ity.”— Neander’s History of Christian Dogmas , 
Vol /, p. H8. 

“The Jews generally believed that the Messiah 
would establish a literal or earthly kingdom. 
And even some of them believed that Messiah’s 
reign would last a thousand years.” Before the 
death of all the first apostles, this Jewish notion 
was revived in the teaching of an ungodly her¬ 
etic by the name of Cerinthus. 

In Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, Book 
III, chap. 28, is preserved a fragment from the 
writings of Caius, who lived about the close of 
the second century. This extract gives us the 
following account of Cerinthus’ heresy. “But 



44 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


Cerinthus, by means of revelations which he 
pretended were written by a great apostle, also 
falsely pretended to wonderful things, as if they 
were showed him by angels, asserting, that after 
the resurrection there would be an earthly king¬ 
dom of Christ, and that the flesh, i. e. men, 
again inhabiting Jerusalem, would be subject to 
desires and pleasures.” Eusebius says of Cer¬ 
inthus : “Being also an enemy to the Scriptures, 
with a view to deceive men, he said ‘that there 
would be a space of a thousand years for cele¬ 
brating nuptial festivities.’ . . . One of the 
doctrines that he taught was, that Christ would 
have an earthly kingdom.” 

This is the true origin of the millennial theory 
among Christians. The reader will observe how 
lightly Caius speaks of Cerinthus’ idea of the 
kingdom of Christ being set up on earth after 
the resurrection. He says this doctrine was 
something which Cerinthus pretended was shown 
to him by angels. Caius must, therefore, have 
believed the orthodox teachings of the Scrip¬ 
tures that Christ’s kingdom was set up at his 
first coming. Observe also that Caius calls 
Cerinthus “an enemy to the Scriptures” and 
one who had “a view to deceive men.” This 
language he uses with special reference to the 


HISTORY OF MILLENNIAL THEORY 45 


one thousand years this millennarian claimed 
would be spent in sensuality. Notice also that 
he believed in an earthly kingdom. 

Cerinthus lived in the days of the apostle 
John. We will now call your attention to the 
attitude of the beloved apostle toward this mil¬ 
lennial teacher. Irenaeus, who was born about 
120 A. D. and who was acquainted with Poly¬ 
carp, the disciple of John ( Eusebius' Eccl. 
Hist., Boole V, chap. 21^), states that while John 
was at Ephesus he entered a bath to wash, but 
when he found that Cerinthus was within he re¬ 
fused to bathe there, left the building, and ex¬ 
horted those with him to do the same, saying, 
“Let us flee,* lest the bath fall in, as long as 
Cerinthus, that enemy of the truth, is within.”— 
Eusebius' Eccl. Hist., Boole III, chap. 28. Let 
this be a rebuke to modern millennial advocates. 
They claim their doctrine is well founded in the 
Revelation of John. But John called the found¬ 
er of their theory “that enemy of the truth.” 

“Cerinthus required his followers to worship 
the supreme God. . . . He promised them a 

resurrection of their bodies, which would be suc¬ 
ceeded by exquisite delights in the millenary 
reign of Christ. . . . For Cerinthus sup¬ 

posed that Christ would hereafter return . . . 


46 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


and would reign with his followers during a 
thousand years in Palestine.”— Mosheim’s Eccl. 
Hist., p. 50. 

“Cerinthus required his followers to retain 
part of the Mosaical law, but to regulate their 
lives by the example of Christ; and taught that 
after the resurrection Christ would reign upon 
earth, with his faithful disciples, a thousand 
years, which would be spent in the highest sen¬ 
sual indulgences. This mixture of Judaism and 
oriental philosophy was calculated to make many 
converts, and this sect soon became very nu¬ 
merous. They admitted a part of St. Mat¬ 
thew’s Gospel; but rejected the rest, and held 
the epistles of St. Paul in great abhorrence.” 
—Gregory and Ruter’s Church Hist., p. 30. 

“Even though the floods of the nations and 
the vain superstitions of heretics should revolt 
against their true faith, they are overcome, and 
shall be dissolved as the foam, because Christ 
is the rock by which, and on which, the church 
is founded. And thus it is overcome by no traces 
of maddened men. Therefore they are not to be 
heard who assure themselves that there is to be 
an earthly reign of a thousand years; who 
think, that is to say, with the heretic Cerinthus. 
For the kingdom of Christ is now eternal in his 


HISTORY OF MILLENNIAL THEORY 47 


saints—Commentary on the Apocalypse , hy 
Victorinas , o/ the Ante-Nicene Fathers. 

Thank God for this testimony of history! 
Observe, dear reader, how closely the modern 
millennium teachers cling to the doctrines of 
their founder. Cerinthus taught that “Christ 
would have an earthly kingdom”; “after the 
resurrection there would be an earthly kingdom 
of Christ”; the resurrection would be followed 
by “exquisite delights in the millenary reign of 
Christ”; “Christ would hereafter return . . . 
and would reign with his followers during a 
thousand years in Palestine.” The principal 
difference is that most of his modern followers 
have dropped the idea of sensuality. 

But how did the early church regard the doc¬ 
trine of Cerinthus? They declare that he was 
“an enemy to the Scriptures, with a view to de¬ 
ceive men.” They called him a “heretic.” They 
termed his doctrine the “vain superstitions of 
heretics,” and called all who believed and ad¬ 
vocated the same “maddened men.” The apostle 
John called Cerinthus “that enemy of the 
truth.” They taught that “they are not to be 
heard who assure themselves that there is to be 
an earthly reign of a thousand years.” 

What was the doctrine of the early church ac- 


48 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


cording to history? “Christ is the rock on 
which, and by which, the church is founded.” 
“The kingdom of Christ is now eternal in his 
saints.” “It was the universal feeling among 
primitive Christians that they were living in the 
last period of the world’s history.”—Ency. 
Brit., 9th Ed., Vol. VIII, p. 534. The reason 
they believed this was because the New Testa¬ 
ment was their faith, and this is the doctrine of 
the New Testament throughout. No wonder 
Cerinthus and his followers rejected part of 
St. Matthew’s Gospel and “held the epistles of 
Paul in great abhorrence.” Just so do modern 
millennium teachers dwell very little in the 
plain Gospels and Epistles to prove their doc¬ 
trines, but speculate in prophecy and revelation. 

Having seen that Cerinthus and his false doc¬ 
trine were rejected by God’s church, we will 
now come to the next chief advocate of millen- 
nialism, Papias, who lived in the first half of 
the second century. Eusebius, under the head¬ 
ing “The Writings of Papias,” says of him: 
“The same historian also gives other accounts, 
which he says he adds as received by him from 
unwritten tradition, likewise certain strange 
parables of our Lord, and of his doctrine, and 
some other matters rather too fabulous. In 


HISTORY OF MILLENNIAL THEORY 49 


these he says there would be a certain millennium 
after the resurrection, and that there would be 
a corporeal reign of Christ on this very earth; 
which things he appears to have imagined, as if 
they were authorized by the apostolic narra¬ 
tions, not understanding correctly those mat¬ 
ters which they propounded mystically in their 
representations. For he was very limited in his 
comprehension, as is evident from his dis¬ 
courses.”— Eusebius' Eccl. Hist., Booh III, 
chap. 39, p. 115 . 

Historians generally tell us that Papias was 
a very zealous advocate of this imaginary reign 
of Christ on earth. “The first distinguished op¬ 
ponent of this doctrine was Origen, who at¬ 
tacked it with great earnestness and ingenuity, 
and seems, in spite of some opposition; to have 
thrown it into general discredit.”— Wadington's 
History, p. 56. 

“This obscure doctrine was probably known 
to but very few except the Fathers of the 
church, and is very sparingly mentioned by 
them during the first two centuries; and there 
is reason to believe that it scarcely attained 
much notoriety, even among the learned Chris¬ 
tians, until it was made a matter of controversy 
by Origen, and then rejected by the greater ma- 


50 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


jority. In fact, we find Origen himself assert¬ 
ing that it was confined to those of the simpler 
sort.”— Ibid. 

Next among the advocates of this doctrine 
was Nepos, a bishop in Egypt. He advocated 
the doctrine about A. D. 255. We here insert 
the following from Eusebius’s History, Book 
VII, chap. 23, under the heading “Nepos, and 
His Schism.” “He taught, that the promises 
given to holy men in the Scriptures, should be 
understood more as the Jews understood them, 
and supposed that there would be a certain mil¬ 
lennium of sensual luxury on this earth. Think¬ 
ing, therefore, that he could establish his own 
opinion by the Revelation of John. . . . He 

[Nepos] asserts that there will be an earthly 
reign of Christ.” 

“Though millennialism had been suppressed 
by the early church, it was nevertheless from 
time to time revived by heretical sects.”— Dr. 
Schaff’s History , p. 299. 

“Nowhere in the discourses of Jesus is there 
a hint of a limited duration of the Messianic 
kingdom. The apostolic epistles are equally 
free from any trace of Chiliasm.”— Ency. Brit., 
Art. “ Millennium .” 

To sum up the uniform voice of history, the 


HISTORY OF MILLENNIAL THEORY 51 


theory of a literal kingdom and reign on the 
earth was gathered from Jewish fabulous “apoc¬ 
alypse,” “unwritten tradition,” carnal misap¬ 
prehensions, pretended visions, supposition, and 
“Jewish imaginations.” Its advocates were said 
to be very limited in their understanding, and 
“of the simpler sort.” Millennialism had the 
worst heretic in the first century for its founder, 
and its chief advocates thereafter were rejected 
by the early church. From time to time it was 
revived by “heretical sects.” The vain, worldly 
expectation that the Messiah would establish a 
literal kingdom caused the Jews to reject him 
and his spiritual kingdom. They wanted only 
an earthly kingdom; hence rejectd and cru¬ 
cified the Son of God. As soon as the church 
began to apostatize and to lose the glory of the 
spiritual kingdom, vain ambitions awakened the 
old Jewish desire for a literal kingdom. And so 
it has come to pass that at this time of dead 
formality we have a multitude of men teaching 
the same error and false hope that crucified 
Christ nearly nineteen hundred years ago; 
namely, a literal kingdom of Christ. 


52 


CHRISTS KINGDOM AND REIGN 


THE KINGDOM OF GRACE 

The prophets with one accord looked forward 
to a time when God’s special favor would be 
extended to all the nations of the earth. The 
Lord made a covenant with Abraham, that in 
his seed all the families of the earth should be 
blessed. This was confirmed and repeated to 
both Isaac and Jacob and handed down to all 
their posterity. 

The Jews, during the entire dispensation of 
the law, caught the inspiration of this promise 
and “prophesied of the grace that should come 
unto you” (1 Pet. 1:10). The Psalms of 
David are sprinkled with brilliant prophesies 
relative to a time when the free grace of God 
should flow and all people could drink of the 
sparkling waters of full salvation. 

The evangelistic prophet Isaiah foretold the 
dawning of a new dispensation which would be 
the most propitious age of the grace of God to 
the human family. In fulfilment of all these 
predictions, Christ came and established his 
kingdom of righteousness in the world. As he 
stood at the door of his kingdom, he invited 
all to come. “Come unto me, all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 


THE KINGDOM OF GRACE 


53 


. . . And ye shall find rest unto your souls.” 

Thus “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” 

His kingdom on earth is a kingdom of grace. 
“The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath 
appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying 
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live 
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present 
world.” His kingdom of grace was established 
for the purpose of overthrowing the kingdom of 
Satan and sin by delivering men from its power. 
The entire sinful world is represented as being 
in prison and slavery—in bondage. Christ came 
to set the captives free, to open the “prison to 
them that are bound.” This deliverance came 
by free grace, and not because men merited it, 
for no meritorious works could make them ac¬ 
cepted in the Beloved. 

Before Christ came, sin held the dominion; 
but now since he came, Paul says to those who 
enter His kingdom: “Sin shall not have the 
dominion over you: for ye are not under the 
law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14); “But 
where sin abounded, grace did abound more ex¬ 
ceedingly : That, as sin reigned in death, even so 
might grace reign through righteousness unto 
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” 
(Rom. 5:20, 21, A. S. V.). Paul’s argument 


54 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


is this: Adam stands at the head of the whole 
creation, which was marred and corrupted by 
his sin. Satan robbed him of his blessed state of 
holiness and righteousness, and he himself be¬ 
came the prince of this world and reigned for 
four thousand years. Sin and death held sway 
over all mankind; but in the fulness of time 
Christ came in person to earth and established 
his kingdom of full salvation among men. In 
this sense he dethroned Satan, and he himself 
was raised up “the Prince of life,” “to be a 
Prince and a Savior.” 

As before noted, sin reigned in the human 
heart and life; but when Christ casts out sin 
and establishes his kingdom of righteousness in 
the heart, then in the very place where sin 
abounded, grace abounds more exceedingly. In 
the very place where sin reigned unto death, 
now grace reigns “through righteousness, unto 
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 
And “they which receive abundance of grace and 
of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life 
by one, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5: 17). Thus, the 
fully saved, through the grace of God, are en¬ 
abled to reign in this life over Satan, sin, and 
all the powers of evil. This is the kingdom of 
grace. In fact, Christ’s throne in this dispensa- 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


55 


tion is termed a throne of grace, to which we 
may all ‘boldly come and find mercy and grace 
to help in time of need’ (Heb. 4: 16). 

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which 
can not be moved, let us have grace, whereby 
we may serve God acceptably with reverence and 
godly fear” (Heb. 12:28). The dispensation 
of the gospel of full salvation and the grace of 
God in the human heart is here meant—his king¬ 
dom of righteousness and peace and joy in the 
Holy Ghost. This can never fail, because it is 
the last dispensation. It is the climax of moral 
redemption. It shall stand forever, hence can 
not be moved. This is the heavenly kingdom 
which God has given us. Therefore, let us ac¬ 
cept this grace which will enable us to serve 
God acceptably. 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM FORETOLD BY THE 
PROPHETS 

“Behold, a king shall reign in righteous¬ 
ness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And 
a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, 
and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of 
water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great 



56 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


rock in a weary land” (Isa. 32: 1, 2). 

Isaiah has been frequently called the evan¬ 
gelistic prophet of the Old Testament. No 
doubt this is because so many of his prophecies 
have direct reference to Messiah and his king¬ 
dom. Some have taught that the texts quoted 
above primarily refer to Hezekiah and his good 
reign. But a careful reading of the whole chap¬ 
ter seems to make clear the fact that Christ and 
his kingdom are referred to. During the reign 
of righteousness here predicted, the Spirit from 
on high was to be poured out upon the people. 
“And the work of righteousness shall be peace; 
and the effect of righteousness quietness and as¬ 
surance forever. And my people shall dwell in 
a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and 
in quiet resting-places.” “Blessed are ye that 
sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the 
feet of the ox and the ass.” 

All this refers to the blessings of the present 
dispensation; nor did the prophet overdraw 
the picture, for the fully redeemed have by 
actual experience proved that when Christ is 
crowned in the human heart and life, and reigns 
there in righteousness, this is accomplished by 
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; and the ef¬ 
fect is “quietness and assurance forever”—a 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


57 


peaceful reign. O the glories and beauties of 
salvation now experienced by all those who are 
fully saved! 

Christ’s coming was heralded as producing 
peace on earth and good-will toward men. This 
does not imply, as some have concluded, peace 
among the temporal nations; but only among 
those people of all nations who are saved and 
redeemed through the blood of Christ. There 
are many predictions in the Old Testament rel¬ 
ative to Christ’s kingdom and reign that are 
used by millennium teachers to prove that there 
will be a future, literal reign of Christ upon this 
earth; but a careful reading of each one in the 
light of the New Testament clearly shows that 
they all are to reach their fulfilment during the 
gospel age. A number of these we shall now 
consider. 

“In his days shall the righteous flourish; and 
abundance of peace so long as the moon en¬ 
dure th. He shall have dominion also from sea 
to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the 
earth” (Psa. 72:7, 8). “All the ends of the 
world shall remember and turn unto the Lord” 
(Psa. 22:27). “Arise, shine; for thy light is 
come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon 
thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover 


58 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


the earth, and gross darkness the people: but 
the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory 
shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall 
come to thy light, and kings to the brightness 
of thy rising . . . because the abundance 

of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces 
of the Gentiles shall come unto thee” (Isa. 60: 
1-5). “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; 
shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy 
King cometh unto thee . . . lowly, and rid¬ 

ing upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of 
an ass . . . and he shall speak peace unto 

the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea 
to sea, and from the river even to the ends of 
the earth” (Zech. 9: 9, 10). 

In these texts are foretold the universal do¬ 
main of Christ and the intent of his coming and 
reign. The question is, Where shall we look for 
the fulfilment? A careful reading of each of 
these predictions shows that the diffusion of 
light and salvation among the Gentiles is here 
promised. Under the law the true God was 
known only to Israel; but in the gospel, the 
offer of salvation is extended to all the nations 
of the world. Under the present dispensation 
of grace, all nations have the privilege of enter¬ 
ing the kingdom of God and enjoying the sal- 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


59 


vation of Jesus Christ. When we turn to the 
New Testament, we see clearly the fulfilment of 
the above predictions, expressed in such texts as 
the following: 

“Through the tender mercy of our God; 
whereby the day spring from on high hath visited 
us, to give light to them that sit in darkness 
and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet 
into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78, 79). At 
the birth of the Savior, the angel’s announce¬ 
ment was: “I bring you good tidings of great 
joy, which shall be to all people.” When 
Simeon took the infant Jesus into his arms, he 
declared, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant 
depart in peace, according to thy word: for 
mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou 
hast prepared before the face of all people; a 
light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of 
thy people Israel.” Paul and Barnabas said to 
the Jews, “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For 
so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have 
set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou 
shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the 
earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they 
were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord” 
(Acts 13:46, 48). “On the Gentiles also was 
poured out the gift of the Lloly Ghost” (Acts 


60 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


10:45). “Then, hath God also to the Gen¬ 
tiles granted repentance unto life.” “Be it 
known therefore unto you, that the salvation of 
God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will 
hear it” (Acts 28:28). 

Here, then, we see the fulfilment of the 
prophecies that promised salvation to the Gen¬ 
tiles and all the ends of the earth. Instead of 
referring to a future age, they referred to the 
diffusion of the gospel among all nations during 
the Christian dispensation. As before observed, 
under the law the true God was known only to 
Israel, the Jews, who were favored above every 
nation of the earth; but in this dispensation, 
“repentance and remission of sins should be 
preached in his name among all nations, begin¬ 
ning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). “And ye 
shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, 
and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the 
uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). “And 
this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in 
all the world for a witness unto all nations; and 
then shall the end come” (Matt. 24: 14). These 
texts are decisive. 

We are now living in what is preeminently 
the day of salvation. The age when Christ 
shall have dominion from sea to sea and to the 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


61 


ends of the earth is the age ushered in by his 
first advent. A careful reading of Zech. 9: 9, 
10, makes this clear. The earth can not perish, 
until every continent, island, and people is il¬ 
luminated with the light of the gospel. There 
must be a universal spread of the truth on all 
the inhabitable globe. This great work began 
with the ministry of Jesus, was carried forward 
by the labors of the apostles and the early min¬ 
istry, and has been more or less progressive 
throughout the entire Christian era. Before 
the death of the first apostles it is positively 
stated that the gospel had sounded out in all 
the earth. Of course this has reference to the 
then-known civilized world. Gradually it has 
spread from hamlet to city, from vale to hill, 
from the continent to the island, yea, from pole 
to pole, and from the rivers to the ends of the 
earth. Out of all nations of the earth, people 
have been, and are being, saved and brought 
into the kingdom of God. The globe has been 
circumnavigated; the great waters of the At¬ 
lantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans have been 
crossed and recrossed; the Arctic and Antarctic 
Oceans have been traversed by modern sea ves¬ 
sels ; nearly every country on the earth and 
every island of the sea have been explored, and 


62 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


great and mighty nations on earth are being 
penetrated by modern civilization. Such great 
countries as China, India, Japan, and Africa, 
which had never been reached by Christianity, 
except in a very limited way, are today opening 
their doors to the gospel and with outstretched 
arms are calling for salvation from sin. The 
universal spread of the gospel among all the 
nations of earth is being accomplished in this 
age. Jesus gave this achievement as a positive 
sign of his coming—“This gospel of the king¬ 
dom shall be preached in all the world for a 
witness unto all nations; and then shall the end 
come.” 

The following declarations have been applied 
by millennium teachers to a future age: “The 
Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right 
hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. 
The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out 
of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. 
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy 
power” (Psa. 110:1-3). “Yet have I set my 
king upon my holy hill of Zion. . . . Thou 

art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask 
of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine 
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


63 


a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces 
like a potter’s vessel.” I shall now prove that 
these texts have a positive fulfilment in the pres¬ 
ent dispensation. 

“For David is not ascended into the heavens: 
but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my 
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make 
thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the 
house of Israel know assuredly that God hath 
made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, 
both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2: 34, 36). Peter 
here quotes the first verse of the second Psalm 
verbatim, and then positively declares that it is 
now fulfilled. In Acts 13:32, 33, we have a 
definite statement that the second Psalm is now 
being fulfilled—“And we declare unto you glad 
tidings, how that the promise which was made 
unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same 
unto us their children, in that he hath raised up 
Jesus again; as it is also written in the second 
psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I be¬ 
gotten thee.” Heb. 1: 1-8 makes very clear the 
fact that the prediction made in the second 
Psalm is now fulfilled. “God, who at sundry 
times and in divers manners spake in time past 
unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these 
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he 


64 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also 
he made the worlds; who being the brightness 
of his glory, and the express image of his per¬ 
son, and upholding all things by the word of his 
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, 
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on 
high; being made so much better than the angels, 
as he hath by inheritance obtained a more ex¬ 
cellent name than they. For unto which of the 
angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, 
this day have I begotten thee? . . . when he 

bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he 
saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 
. . . Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O 

God, is forever and ever; a sceptre of righteous¬ 
ness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” This text 
is so clear that comment is not necessary. It 
simply proves that the prediction in the second 
Psalm has its fulfilment in the Christian dis¬ 
pensation, extending from the time Christ tri¬ 
umphantly rose from the dead and ascended into 
heaven, “crowned with glory and honor,” “head 
of all principality and power,” to his second ad¬ 
vent at the end of this age, when he will come 
to judgment in power and great glory. 

We will note another prophecy that has trou¬ 
bled many. “For the kingdom is the Lord’s: 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


65 


and he is the governor among the nations . . . 
all they that go down to the dust shall bow be¬ 
fore him. ... A seed shall serve him; it 
shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 
They shall come, and shall declare his righteous¬ 
ness unto a people that shall be born” (Psa. 22: 
27-31). In a former chapter we have clearly 
shown that the kingdom is now the Lord’s and 
he is governor among the nations; that is, he 
is the prince of the kings of the earth and rules 
in the kingdoms of men. The influence of his 
glorious gospel, the law of his kingdom, is felt 
among the nations and kindreds of earth. De¬ 
claring “his righteousness unto a people that 
shall be born” has reference to the diffusion of 
the glorious gospel among the Gentile nations. 
“All they that go down to the dust shall bow 
before him” will reach its fulfilment beyond the 
resurrection in the great day of judgment. 
“For we shall all stand before the judgment 
seat of Christ . . . every knee shall bow to 

me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, 
and given him a name which is above every name: 
that at the name of Jesus every knee should 
bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, 
and things under the earth; and that every 


66 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father.” In Zech. 14: 
7-9 we have a clear prediction of the accomplish¬ 
ment of the gospel in the closing days of the 
Christian dispensation. It is said, “And the 
Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that 
day there shall be one Lord, and his name one.” 

So we find that instead of these scriptures 
teaching a more glorious dispensation yet fu¬ 
ture, they teach the privileges and blessings of 
the gospel age. This line of thought could be 
very much drawn out; I have simply given a few 
clear examples of texts that are used to prove 
a more propitious age of grace and salvation 
future, but which, when carefully examined in 
the light of the New Testament Scriptures, ap¬ 
ply exclusively to the accomplishments and bless¬ 
ings of Christ during the Christian era. 

TIME OF ITS ESTABLISHMENT PREDICTED 

The prophets with one accord pointed to the 
first advent of Christ as the time when the king¬ 
dom of God was to be established. All the pre¬ 
dictions which related to its establishment 
reached their fulfilment at that time. 

We will begin with Daniel’s prophecy. In 
the second chapter we read that Nebuchadnez- 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


67 


zar, king of Babylon, dreamed a dream, which 
was afterwards made known to him by Daniel 
the prophet. In the dream he saw a great image. 
“This great image, whose brightness was ex¬ 
cellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof 
was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, 
his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and 
his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part 
of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that 
a stone was cut out without hands, which smote 
the image upon his feet that were of iron and 
clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the 
iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, 
broken to pieces together, and became like the 
chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the 
wind carried them away, that no place was 
found for them: and the stone that smote the 
image became a great mountain, and filled the 
whole earth” (Dan. 2:31-35). 

These five short verses open one of the most 
sublime chapters of human history. It is so 
comprehensive that the period which it covers, 
beginning more than twenty-five centuries ago, 
reaches from that far distant point, past epochs 
and ages, over into the eternal state—yes, to all 
eternity. 

First in the vision are brought to view four 


68 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


universal monarchies, which flourished in suc¬ 
cession in ancient times. The first of these is 
represented by the head of gold, interpreted 
by the prophet as follows: “Thou, O king, art 
a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath 
given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and 
glory. . . . Thou art this head of gold” 

(vs. 37, 38). By this we understand that the 
head of gold represented the Chaldean kingdom. 
It was a golden kingdom in a golden age. Baby¬ 
lon, its metropolis, lay in the garden of the 
East. According to Herodotus, the city wall 
was a perfect square, 15 miles on each side, 350 
feet high, and 87 feet thick. It had 150 gates 
of solid brass. This city contained many re¬ 
markable things, its hanging gardens being 
reckoned among the seven wonders of the world. 
I presume it is safe to say that never before 
did the earth see a city like this. With the 
earth prostrate at her feet, she sat “the glory 
of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excel¬ 
lency.” 

While Babylon was founded by Nimrod over 
two thousand years before Christ, it did not 
enter the field of prophecy until connected with 
the people of God, which was about 606 B. C. 
Here the head of gold began in history, and it 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


69 


continued until 538 B. C., when, during the 
reign of Belshazzar, the kingdom fell into the 
hands of the Medes and the Persians (see 
Daniel 5). 

The Medo-Persian kingdom was represented 
by the breast and arms of silver, interpreted by 
Daniel as follows: “And after thee shall arise 
another kingdom inferior to thee” (v. 39). It 
was not inferior in power nor in the extent to 
which it carried its conquests, for Cyrus built 
up the most extensive empire that had ever 
existed; but it was inferior in wealth, luxury, 
and magnificence. The Medo-Persian kingdom, 
however, was finally overthrown by the Grecians 
about 286 B. C. 

The Grecian empire is what was represented 
by the belly and thighs of brass, interpreted by 
Daniel as “another third kingdom of brass, 
which shall bear rule over all the earth” (v. 39). 
The conquests of Grecia under Alexander have 
no parallel in historic annals for suddenness and 
rapidity. The legs of iron, and the feet part of 
iron and part of clay, Daniel interprets to be 
the “fourth kingdom” in its strong and divided 
condition (vs. 40-43). A careful reading of 
verses 41 and 42 will show that the feet of iron 


70 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


and clay are termed “the kingdom,” though 
divided. This was Rome. 

Thus far in this vision the image represents 
four universal kingdoms; namely, Babylonia, 
Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. “And in the 
days of these kings shall the God of heaven set 
up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: 
and the kingdom shall not be left to other peo¬ 
ple, but it shall break in pieces and consume all 
these kingdoms and it shall stand forever. For¬ 
asmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut 
out of the mountain without hands, and that it 
brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the 
silver, and the gold” (vs. 44, 45). This lan¬ 
guage is so clear that it would seem impossible 
to misunderstand it. “In the days of these 
kings”—kingdoms. Only four kingdoms are 
seen in the image. Only four are spoken of in 
the interpretation. In their days, or before 
they should pass off the field of action, the God 
of heaven would set up his everlasting kingdom. 
While they yet held the dominion, the stone 
would be cut out and would smash them to 
pieces. Ah, beloved reader, how wonderful the 
fulfilment! 

It was when Rome, the fourth of the above 
kingdoms, had reached the summit of its glory 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


71 


and power; when its domain was so large that 
it was denominated “all the world” (Luke 2:1); 
when Augustus Caesar was an absolute sovereign, 
ruling over three hundred millions of people;— 
it was then that there was born in the village of 
Bethlehem, in Judea, a babe who, though he was 
cradled in a manger and his infant cries were 
no doubt mingled with the lowing of oxen and 
the bleating of lambs, was destined to estab¬ 
lish this everlasting kingdom. Without fagot 
or sword, without war and bloodshed, with no 
weapons but the gospel of Christ, the blood of 
the Lamb, and burning testimony, this kingdom 
marched onward with conquering power, until 
the heathen kingdoms of darkness were broken 
in pieces. The lion-hearted rulers of nations 
handed over their scepters to the “Lion of the 
tribe of Judah,” whose throne is forever and 
ever; and a scepter of righteousness is the scep¬ 
ter of his kingdom (Heb. 1:8). In fulfilment 
of Daniel’s prophecy, “Jesus came into Galilee, 
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 
and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the king¬ 
dom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe 
the gospel” (Mark 1:14, 15). The dispensa¬ 
tion of the glorious gospel of infinite mercy and 
manifestation of eternal truth by Jesus Christ 


72 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


was now to open up fully to all mankind. This 
is called a kingdom because it has laws, all the 
moral precepts of the gospel; subjects, all who 
believe in Christ Jesus; and a king, the Sov¬ 
ereign of heaven and earth. 

From the foregoing scripture we learn three 
things: (1) That everything that is done is ac¬ 
cording to a plan laid by divine wisdom, and not 
performed till the time appointed. (2) That 
the kingdom of God and his reign by grace be¬ 
gin with repentance of past sins. (3) That 
this reign of grace is at hand, and that it began 
with Christ’s ministry, when the time was an¬ 
nounced “fulfilled.” Now is the time to enter 
in, and nothing but an obstinate perservance in 
sin and impenitence can keep a soul out of it. 

Christ came to establish his church, of which 
he is the everlasting head and governor. He set 
up a government and kingdom which is eternal. 
Revolutions may destroy the kingdoms of earth, 
but the gates of hell and death shall never be 
able to destroy the kingdom, or church, of 
Christ. His is the only kingdom that shall never 
have an end. Dr. Adam Clark expresses it in 
this language: “The kingdom of grace and the 
kingdom of glory form the endless government 
of Christ.” This was the stone that smote the 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


73 


image upon its feet and broke them in pieces. 
And, as portrayed in this prophecy, pagan 
Rome was broken in pieces under the iron rod 
of the gospel of Christ, before it finally fell, 
A. D. 476. That iron kingdom, which once 
ruled the earth, crumbled to pieces under the 
hammer of the gospel and holiness, and the 
church of God triumphed. Christianity became 
the fifth universal kingdom. Rome was the last 
earthly kingdom that ever swayed universal 
authority, or ever will. But Christ’s kingdom is 
universal. The uttermost parts of the earth 
are his possession. In every nation are to be 
found disciples of Christ. Kings and magis¬ 
trates bow before him and do him homage. 

Before passing from this prophecy, we shall 
take a little space to consider the erroneous po¬ 
sition of millenarians. They argue that, as the 
ten toes of the image represent the ten divided 
kingdoms of Rome, these were the kingdoms to 
be in existence when Christ should set up his 
everlasting kingdom; and since none of these ten 
kingdoms were in existence when Christ ap¬ 
peared in his first advent, they conclude that 
the establishment of Christ’s kingdom is yet 
future. Their position is false for the follow¬ 
ing reasons: 


74 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


1. The ten toes are not called kingdoms in 
the prophecy. The legs, feet, and toes are all 
summed up in this prophecy as “the kingdom” 
—the “fourth kingdom” (vs. 40-43). Only the 
four universal monarchies—Babylon, Medo- 
Persia, Grecia, and Rome—are called kingdoms 
The image, as a whole, represents these four. 
They are called kingdoms. “And in the days of 
these kings” (kingdoms) the God of heaven was 
to set up his everlasting kingdom; that is, dur¬ 
ing their reign, while they yet held dominion. 
As before proved, this was fulfilled by the com¬ 
ing of Christ and the establishment of his king¬ 
dom, or church, during the reign of Rome. 
Christianity fulfilled the prophecy in crushing 
these heathen powers. 

2. The time can not reach to Christ’s second 
coming, for none of the original ten kingdoms 
are now existing. Three of them fell under 
popery (Dan. 7:8, 20, 24). They have all 
long since passed away. There are in existence 
today probably twenty fragments of those 
original kingdoms, but the toes of the image no 
longer exist. 

3. The image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in 
his dream was evidently a well-proportioned 
man. His toes were of the proper size. But 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


75 


millennialists would say that Nebuchadnezzar 
saw a man with toes longer than the man. Let 
us measure that image from the crown of his 
head to his toes. The Babylonian kingdom, 
represented by the head of gold, came into 
prophecy about 600 B. C. The first of the ten 
kingdoms of Rome dates from the latter half 
of the fourth century. This kingdom belonged 
to the Huns whose European history began in 
A. D. 372. Thus from Babylonia to the Huns 
is a period of 972 years. So the whole image 
measured less than one thousand years, till we 
reach the toes. Now, if those toes still exist, as 
millenarians suppose, they would measure over 
1,500 years. That would make a man with toes 
500 years longer than the man. Such are the 
absurdities of those who believe in a future lit¬ 
eral kingdom to be established upon earth. 

4. The stone struck the image upon his feet. 
But since there is no longer feet or toes of that 
image left, the kingdom of God must be already 
established. When set up by Christ it was a 
small stone, but it began to enlarge and finally 
became so great that when Rome became brittle, 
Christianity struck her such an awful blow that 
she flew to pieces. 

5. All the New Testament scriptures teach 


76 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


that the kingdom was set up at Christ’s first 
advent. See Mark 1: 14, 15 ; John 18: 36, 37 ; 
Matt. 21: 4, 5; Heb. 1: 7, 8; Rev. 1:5; Eph. 
1:20-22; Heb. 2:9; Heb. 4:16; Luke 17: 
20-22; Rom. 14:17; Rev. 1: 5, 6; Rom. 5:17; 
Luke 16:16; Matt. 3:2; Matt. 11:12; Matt. 
12: 28; Mark 12: 34; Matt. 16: 28; Luke 9: 27 ; 
Mark 9:1; Col. 1:18; Rev. 1: 9. These twenty- 
two positive texts, with many more, are surely a 
sufficient reason for our not accepting the false 
doctrine of a future kingdom upon earth. The 
only kingdom yet future is the everlasting king¬ 
dom of glory above, which we shall enter when 
time is no more. 

The stone cut out of the mountain without 
hands, is no other than Christianity, which con¬ 
stitutes the everlasting kingdom of God. This 
kingdom is a divine institution because it was 
established by Christ himself. It began with 
the preaching of John the Baptist, continued 
during the personal ministry of Christ, and 
was fully established on the day of Pentecost. 
Earthly kingdoms have risen and fallen, but this 
one stands unshaken upon the rock of eternal 
truth. 

I will here insert the following excellent exe¬ 
gesis of Dan. 2: 31-35 from Dr. Adam Clark’s 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


77 


Commentary: “ ‘A stone cut out of the moun¬ 
tain without hands.’ That Jesus Christ has been 
represented by a stone, we have already seen; 
but this stone refers chiefly to his church, which 
is represented as a spiritual building, which he 
supports as a foundation stone, connects and 
strengthens as a corner stone, and finishes and 
adorns as a top stone. He is called a stone 
also in reference to the prejudice conceived 
against him by his countrymen. Because he did 
not come in worldly pomp, they therefore re¬ 
fused to receive him; and to them he is rep¬ 
resented as ‘a stone of stumbling, and a rock 
of offense.’ 

“But here he is represented under another 
notion, viz., that of a stone projected from a 
catapult, or some military engine, which smote 
the image on its feet; that is, it smote the then 
existing government at its foundation, or prin¬ 
ciples of support; and by destroying these, 
brought the whole into ruin. 

“By this stroke the clay, the iron, the brass, 
the silver, and the gold were broken to pieces 
and became like chaff which the wind carried 
away. . . . The Roman empire . . . was 

represented by the legs of iron, and feet and 
toes of iron and clay; but as we find that not 


78 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


only the iron and clay, but also the brass, silver, 
and gold were confounded and destroyed by 
that stroke, it follows that there was then re¬ 
maining in and compacted with the Roman gov¬ 
ernment, something of the distinguishing marks 
and principles of all the preceding empires; not 
only as to their territorial possessions, but also 
as to their distinctive characteristics. There 
were at the time here referred to in the Roman 
empire, the splendor of the Chaldeans, the riches 
of the Persians, the discipline of the Greeks, and 
the strength of the Egyptian and Syrian gov¬ 
ernments, mingled with the incoherence and im¬ 
becility of those empires, kingdoms, and states 
which the Romans had subdued. In short, with 
every political excellence, it contains the prin¬ 
ciples of its own destruction, and its persecution 
of the church of Christ accellerated its ruin. 

“As the stone represents Christ and his gov¬ 
erning influence, it is here said to be a kingdom, 
that is, a state of prevailing rule and govern¬ 
ment; and was to arise in the days of those 
kings of kingdoms (v. 44). And this is lit¬ 
erally true; for its rise was when the Roman 
government, partaking of all the characteristics 
of the preceding empires, was at its zenith of 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


79 


imperial splendor, military glory, legislative 
authority, and literary eminence. . . . 

“This stone or government was cut out of the 
mountain . . . Judea being, at the time of 

the birth of Christ, a Roman province. 

“It was cut without hands; probably allud- 
ing to the miraculous birth of our Lord, but 
particularly to the spiritual nature of his king¬ 
dom and government, in which no worldly pol¬ 
icy, human maxims, or military force were em¬ 
ployed; for it was not by might nor power, 
but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts. 

“The kingdom of the stone smites, breaks to 
pieces, and destroys all the other kingdoms. . . . 

“The stone began to strike the image, when 
the apostles went out into every part of the 
Roman empire, pulling down idolatry, and 
founding Christian churches. 

“Constantine . . . in A. D. 324 totally 

defeated Licinius . . . and became sole em¬ 

peror. He terminated the reign of idolatry in 
A. D. 331 by an edict ordering the destruction 
of all the heathen temples. This made Chris¬ 
tianity the religion of the empire. 

“The stroke which thus destroyed idolatry in 
the Roman empire is continual in its effects. . . . 

“This smiting has been continued by all the 


80 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


means which God in his providence and mercy 
has used for the dissemination of Christianity, 
from the time of Constantine to the present. 
. . . It is the kingdom which ‘the God of 

heaven set up.’ That this means the whole dis¬ 
pensation of the gospel, and the moral effects 
produced by it in the souls of men and in the 
world, needs little proof; for our Lord, re¬ 
ferring to this and other prophecies in this book, 
calls its influence and his gospel the kingdom of 
God, and the kingdom of heaven; showing there¬ 
by that it is a kingdom not of this world—not 
raised by human ambition, the lust of rule, or 
military conquest; but a spiritual kingdom, 
raised and maintained by the grace of God him¬ 
self, in which he himself lives and rules, govern¬ 
ing by his own laws, influencing and directing 
by his own spirit; producing, not wars and con¬ 
tentions, but ‘glory to God in the highest, and 
on earth peace, good-will toward men.’ 

“This is called the kingdom of heaven, be¬ 
cause it is a counterpart of the kingdom of 
glory. ‘The kingdom of God,’ says the apostle, 
‘is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy 
Ghost’ (Rom. 14: 17). Righteousness, without 
any sin; peace, without inward disturbance; joy, 
without any mental unhappiness. An eternity 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


81 


of righteousness, peace, and spiritual joy con¬ 
stitutes heaven; nor can we conceive in that 
state anything higher or more excellent than 
these. 

“This kingdom shall never be destroyed; it is 
the everlasting gospel, and the work of the 
everlasting God. As it neither originates in nor 
is dependent on the passions of men, it can not 
be destroyed. All other governments, from the 
imperfection of their nature, contain in them 
the seeds of their own destruction. Kings die, 
ministers change, subjects are not permanent; 
new relations arise, and with them new measures, 
new passions, and new projects; and these pro¬ 
duce political changes, and often political ruin. 
But this government, being the government of 
God, can not be affected by the changes and 
chances to which mortal things are exposed. 

“This ‘kingdom shall not be left to other 
people.’ Every dispensation of God, prior to 
Christianity, supposed another by which it was 
to be succeeded. . . . Under the gospel, Chris¬ 
tian is the name of the people of this kingdom. 
Everything in the construction of the Gospel 
system, as well as its own declarations, show 
that it is not to be succeeded by any other 
dispensation: Its name can never be changed. 


82 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


. . . All former empires have changed, and 

the very names of the people have changed with 
them. The Assyrians were lost in the Chaldeans 
and Babylonians; the Babylonians were lost in 
the Medes; the Medes were lost in the Persians; 
the Persians in the Greeks; and the Greeks in 
the Syrians and Egyptians; these in the Ro¬ 
mans ; and the Romans in the Goths, and a va¬ 
riety of other nations. Nor does the name of 
those ancient governments, nor the people who 
lived under them, remain on the face of the 
earth in the present day! They are only found 
in the page of history. This spiritual kingdom 
shall never be transferred, and the name of its 
subjects shall never be changed. 

“It shall break in pieces and consume all these 
kingdoms; that is, the preaching and influence 
of Christianity shall destroy idolatry universal¬ 
ly. They did so in the Roman empire, which 
was the epitome of all the rest. But this was 
not done by the sword nor by any secular in¬ 
fluence. Christians wage no wars for the propa¬ 
gation of Christianity; for the religion of Christ 
breathes nothing but love to God, and peace and 
good-will to all mankind. The sum of the gospel 
is contained in these words of Christ: ‘God so 
loved the world that he gave his only begotten 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


83 


Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not 
perish, but have everlasting life’; ‘For the Son 
of man is not come to destroy men’s lives but 
to save.’ . . . 

“It is by his own spirit and energy that his 
kingdom is propagated and maintained in the 
world; and by the same his enemies are con¬ 
founded. All false religions, as well as falsified 
and corrupted systems of Christianity, have had 
recourse to the sword, because they were con¬ 
scious they had no God, no influence, but what 
was merely human. 

“The kingdom of Christ breaks in pieces and 
consumes all other kingdoms; that is, it de¬ 
stroys everything in every earthly government 
where it is received, that is opposed to the glory 
of God and the peace and happiness of men, 
and yet in such a way as to leave all political 
governments unchanged. No law or principle 
in Christianity is directed against the political 
code of any country. . . . ‘And it shall 

stand forever.’ This is its final characteristic.” 

In Dan. 7: 2-7, we read that Daniel saw in a 
night vision, four great beasts. The first was 
like a lion, the second like a bear, the third like 
a leopard, and the fourth was dreadful and ter¬ 
rible. It had great iron teeth. This vision 


84 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


greatly troubled Daniel, so he asked an angel 
its meaning. The answer was: “These great 
beasts which are four, are four kings [king¬ 
doms], which shall arise out of the earth. But 
the saints of the Most High shall take the king¬ 
dom, and possess the kingdom forever, even 
forever and ever” (vs. 17, 18). Here are the 
same four universal kingdoms brought to view 
in the second chapter; namely, Babylonia, 
Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. 

Now, mark you, immediately after speaking 
of these four kingdoms, he says, “and the saints 
of the Most High shall take the kingdom and 
possess the kingdom.” By this we are to under¬ 
stand that sometime during the reign of these 
four kings, the kingdom would be given to the 
saints of the Most High. As we have before 
observed, this was fulfilled during the reign of 
Rome, by the coming of Christ, and establish¬ 
ing his kingdom in the hearts of men. The 
saints are the people who have the kingdom of 
God set up in their hearts, who constitute the 
true church, that no lapse of time shall injure, 
and no power can destroy; but shall last as long 
as time shall endure. 

Unlike the heathen kingdoms that preceded 
it, the kingdom of grace and righteousness pos- 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


85 


sessed by the saints was to continue forever. 
Following the setting up of the everlasting king¬ 
dom, came the reign of the little horn and the 
great apostasy (vs. 19-21, 24, 25). During 
this long period the papal power prevailed 
against the saints and they were martyred by 
the millions. This was to continue until judg¬ 
ment was given to the saints of the Most High, 
and this judgment, when executed, was to take 
away the dominion of the horn, to “consume and 
destroy it to the end” (v. 25). The “little 
horn” in Daniel 7 refers to the reign of popery. 
The abolishment of its dominion began with the 
Reformation of Protestantism and reached its 
grand climax in the restoration of the pure 
church in the evening light. “Consume,” as it 
is here spoken of, evidently refers to the flaming 
judgments of truth given against false worship 
and false systems of religion. The fire of sal¬ 
vation and holiness has a consuming effect upon 
corrupt systems of religion. For example, the 
influence of Luther’s and other reformers’ 
preaching in the sixteenth century was as set¬ 
ting fire to the whole system of papal religion. 
“I will make my word in thy mouth fire and this 
people wood, and it shall devour them.” Of 
course, we are not to understand this literally, 


86 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


but figuratively such was the effect of the teach¬ 
ing of the Reformers. The power and dominion 
of Rome was largely taken away, and honest 
souls held within her deceptive fold were led out 
into the light. 

As the judgments of truth that were exe¬ 
cuted in the morning of the Christian era are 
restored to the church, and God’s people exe¬ 
cute these against false systems of religion and 
false worshipers, the effect is the same upon 
these as the preaching of the Reformers was 
upon Rome. As honest souls accept the preach¬ 
ing of the pure gospel, they will be led to re¬ 
nounce the false and corrupt systems in which 
they have been held and will walk in clear light. 

This consuming and destruction of false re¬ 
ligions has been, and is, advancing, and the 
whole realm of sectarianism has to some extent 
felt its withering effect. In a deeper and broader 
sense will the whole realm of apostate religion 
be made to feel, in the future, the burning ef¬ 
fects of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. Not 
only will apostate Christianity be effected, but 
as the pure gospel goes to all nations, false 
religions of every kind will lose their influence; 
and as people renounce these and accept Chris¬ 
tianity, in this sense the dominion of false re- 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


87 


ligions will be abolished. This blessed work will 
continue “until the end.” 

We have now reached the evening light—the 
restoration of the whole truth; and by this is 
comprehended full salvation from all sin and 
false religion, a pure church restored, and an 
enjoyment of all the rich blessings of the king¬ 
dom of Christ. “And the time came that the 
saints possessed the kingdom” (v. 22). Thank 
God! we have reached that time. 

In the morning light age, the kingdom of 
God, as we have seen, spread over the entire 
Roman empire, which was the only part of the 
world known at that time. Christianity con¬ 
quered paganism within this domain. But after 
the great apostasy, when we reach the evening 
light age of the church and the saints again pos¬ 
sess the kingdom, “the kingdom and dominion, 
and the greatness of the kingdom under the 
whole heaven, shall be given to the people of 
the saints of the most High” (v. 27). Yes, 
“dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all 
people, nations, and languages should serve 
him” (v. 14). In other words, in all the earth, 
in all nations where the gospel is destined to 
go, there will be found disciples of Jesus offer¬ 
ing praise and honor and glory to his matchless 


88 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


name. Here, then, we have the glorious tri¬ 
umph of Christianity set forth. It becomes uni¬ 
versal. In this sense the church of God, the 
saints, the beloved city, shall have dominion 
under the whole heaven. Christ will have true 
disciples among all people, nations, and lan¬ 
guages ; and they shall serve him. This state of 
things shall continue until the end. 

“No one now takes much interest in the his¬ 
tory of the world before the coming of Christ. 
The old dynasties of Babylon, Media, Assyria, 
are but dim specters lost in the remoteness of 
the long-forgotten past. Though the Christian 
lingers with solemn pleasure over the faintly- 
revealed scenes of patriarchal life, still he feels 
but little personal interest in the gorgeous em¬ 
pires which rise and disappear before him in 
those remote times, in spectral visions, like the 
genii of an Arabian tale. 

“Thebes, Palmyra, Nineveh—palatial man¬ 
sions once lined their streets, and pride and 
opulence thronged their dwellings: but their 
ruins have faded away, their rocky sepulchers 
are swept clean by the winds of centuries; and 
none but a few antiquarians now care to know 
of their prosperity and adversity, of their pris¬ 
tine grandeur or their present decay. 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


89 


“All this is changed since the coming of 
Christ. Eighteen centuries ago a babe was born 
in the stable of an inn, in the Roman province 
of Judea. The life of that babe has stamped a 
new impress upon the history of the world. When 
the child Jesus was born, all the then-known 
nations of the earth were in subjection to one 
government—that of Rome. 

“The Atlantic Ocean was an unexplored sea, 
whose depths no mariner ever ventured to pene¬ 
trate. The Indias had but a shadowy and al¬ 
most fabulous existence. Rumor said, that over 
the wild, unexplored wastes of interior Asia, 
fierce tribes wandered, sweeping to and fro, like 
demons of darkness; and marvelous stories were 
told of their monstrous aspect and fiendlike 
ferocity. 

“The Mediterranean Sea, then the largest 
body of water really known upon the globe, 
was but a Roman lake. It was the central por¬ 
tion of the Roman Empire. Around its shores 
were clustered the thronged provinces and the 
majestic cities which gave Rome celebrity above 
all previous dynasties, and which invested the 
empire of the Caesars with fame that no modern 
kingdom, empire, or republic, has been able to 
eclipse. 


90 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


“A few years before the birth of Christ, 
Julius Csesar perished in the senate-chamber at 
Rome, pierced by the daggers of Brutus and 
other assassins. At the great victory of Phar- 
salia, Csesar had struck down his only rival, 
Pompey, and had concentrated the power of the 
world in his single hand. His nephew, Octavius, 
the second Csesar, surnamed Augustus, or the 
August, was, at the time Jesus was born, the 
monarch of the world. Notwithstanding a few 
nominal restraints, he was an absolute sovereign, 
without any constitutional checks. It is not 
too much to say that his power was unlimited. 
He could do what he pleased with the property, 
liberty, and the lives of every man, woman, and 
child of more than three hundred millions, com¬ 
posing the Roman Empire. Such power no mor¬ 
tal had ever swayed before. Such power no 
mortal will ever sway again. . . . 

“Little did this Roman emperor imagine, as 
he sat enthroned in his gorgeous palace upon 
the Capitoline Hill, that a babe slumbering in 
a manger at Bethlehem, an obscure hamlet in the 
remote province of Syria, and whose infant wail¬ 
ings perhaps blended with the bleating of the 
goats or the lowing of the kine, was to estab- 


FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS 


91 


lish an empire, before which all the power of the 
Csesars was to dwindle into insignificance. 

“But so it was. Jesus, the babe of Bethle¬ 
hem, has become, beyond all others, whether 
philosophers, warriors, or kings, the most con¬ 
spicuous being who ever trod this globe. Be¬ 
fore the name of Jesus of Nazareth all others 
fade away. Uneducated, he has introduced 
principles which have overthrown the proudest 
system of ancient philosophy. By the utter¬ 
ance of a few words, all of which can be written 
on half a dozen pages, he has demolished all the 
pagan systems which pride and passion and 
power had then enthroned. The Roman gods 
and goddesses—Jupiter, Juno, Venus, Bacchus, 
Diana—have fled before the approach of the re¬ 
ligion of Jesus, as fabled specters vanish before 
the dawn. 

“Jesus, the ‘Son of man’ and ‘Son of God,’ 
has introduced a system of religion so compre¬ 
hensive, that it is adapted to every conceivable 
situation in life; so simple, that the most un¬ 
learned, and even children, can comprehend it. 

“This babe of Bethlehem, whose words were 
so few, whose brief life was so soon ended, and 
whose sacrificial death upon the cross was so 
wonderful, though dead, still lives and reigns 


92 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


in this world—a monarch more influential than 
any other, or all other sovereigns upon the globe. 
His empire has advanced majestically, with 
ever-increasing power, down the path of eigh¬ 
teen centuries. . . . 

“The Caesars have perished, and their palaces 
are in ruins. The empire of Charlemagne has 
risen, like one of those gorgeous clouds we so 
often admire, brilliant with the radiance of the 
setting sun; and, like that cloud, it has van¬ 
ished forever. Charles V has marshalled the 
armies of Europe around his throne, and has 
almost rivaled the Caesars in the majesty of his 
sway; and, like a dream, the vision of his uni¬ 
versal empire has fled. 

“But the kingdom of Jesus has survived all 
these wrecks of empires. Without a palace or a 
court, without a bayonet or a saber, without any 
emoluments of rank or wealth or power offered 
by Jesus to his subjects, his kingdom has ad¬ 
vanced steadily, resistlessly, increasing in 
strength every hour, crushing all opposition, 
triumphing over all time’s changes; so that, at 
the present moment, the kingdom of Jesus is a 
stronger kingdom, more potent in all the ele¬ 
ments of influence over the human heart, than 
all the other governments of earth. 


THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION 


93 


“There is not a man upon this globe who 
would now lay down his life from love for any 
one of the numerous monarchs of Rome; but 
there are millions who would go joyfully to the 
dungeon or the stake from love for that Jesus 
who commenced his earthly career in the man¬ 
ger of a country inn, whose whole life was but 
a scene of poverty and suffering, and who 
finally perished upon the cross in the endurance 
of a cruel death with malefactors. 

“As this child, from the period of whose birth 
time itself is now dated, was passing through 
the season of infancy and childhood, naval fleets 
swept the Mediterranean Sea, and Roman le¬ 
gions trampled bloodily over subjugated prov¬ 
inces. There were conflagrations of cities, rav¬ 
ages of fields, fierce battles, slaughter, misery, 
and death. Nearly all these events are now for¬ 
gotten; but the name of Jesus of Nazareth 
grows more lustrous as the ages roll on.”— 
Abbott's History of Christianity. 


THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION 

The history of the world has been properly 
divided into distinct dispensations, or ages. The 



94 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


time from Adam to Moses can properly be 
termed the Patriarchal age, the period before 
a written law was given; from Moses until 
Christ, the Mosaical age, or the dispensation of 
the law; and since Christ, the dispensation of 
the gospel, or the Christian era. Of course 
these dispensations can be subdivided into 
smaller or minor ages; as, the antedeluvian age, 
that is, the time before the flood, which Peter 
terms “the world that then was.” The Mosaical 
age is sometimes spoken of as “the law and the 
prophets.” 

A careful study of events in the history of 
the church reveals four distinct epochs that are 
included in the Christian dispensation. The 
morning light age of the church; the age of 
apostasy and the reign of popery; the Prot¬ 
estant age of sectarianism and division; and 
the evening light age, which brings to us the 
restoration of the whole truth and the pure 
church of God. 

With prophetic eye, the seers of old fore¬ 
told a better day—a day of salvation. That 
which they enjoyed in type and shadow was to 
reach the substance and reality through Christ, 
who would usher in the most propitious age of 
grace and glory the world would ever see. Thus 


THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION 


95 


Isaiah foretold it: “In an acceptable time have 
I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I 
helped thee” (Isa. 49:8). After quoting this 
language of the prophet, Paul makes the ap¬ 
plication, “Behold now is the accepted time; 
behold now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 
6:2). The Christian dispensation is preem¬ 
inently the age of God’s mercy and salvation to 
a lost world. It was ushered in by the coming 
of Messiah to save mankind, and its end will be 
when Christ is revealed from heaven to judge 
the world. 

Since the beginning of time, one long age has 
followed another, in Which God “at sundry 
times and in divers manners, in time past, spake 
unto the fathers by the prophets”; but in “these 
last days” he hath “spoken unto us by his Son” 
(Heb. 1: 1, 2). “These days,” then, that make 
up the gospel age, are the “last.” Yes, dear 
reader, these days in which you and I are now 
living are the last days of time. That another 
age of a thousand years will follow the present 
is by this text utterly refuted, for there can he 
no days after the last . Jude tells us that the 
great multitude of mockers and scoffers who 
have opposed Christianity during this gospel 


96 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


age were to come in “the last time” (Jude 16- 

19 ). 

Here is another proof that the current dis¬ 
pensation is the last. Time is a limited portion 
of duration, and since we are now living in the 
last time, we are living in the last measured por¬ 
tion of duration. Nothing remains after the 
close of the Christian era but eternity. The 
beloved apostle John knew this. He says, “Lit¬ 
tle children, it is the last time: ... we know 
that it [the present age] is the last time” (1 
John 2: 18, 19). This text is decisive. 

The millennium contention is that there are 
a thousand years of time to follow the gospel 
age. But these texts stand in direct contra¬ 
diction to the millennium theory. Since the gos¬ 
pel dispensation is the last time, there can be 
no thousand years to follow it. Peter plainly 
states that Jesus was manifested in “these last 
times for you” (1 Pet. 1:20). In the direct 
from the Greek this is rendered “last of the 
times.” Again in Eph. 1:10 Paul denominates 
the present age, “the dispensation of the fulness 
of time.” The great work of “gathering to¬ 
gether in one all things in Christ,” both Jews 
and Gentiles, all reconciled in one body by the 
cross, one family in heaven and in earth, was to 


THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION 


97 


be accomplished “in the dispensation of the ful¬ 
ness of times”; and all this is effected through 
the gospel during the Christian era. So the 
current dispensation is the dispensation of the 
fulness of times, that is, the dispensation when 
time is full. You see, one long age has succeeded 
another until we have reached the last dispen¬ 
sation of time. 

In 1 Cor. 10:7-11 Paul says that the lust¬ 
ing after evil things, idolatry, murmurings, etc., 
of the children of Israel, “are written for our 
admonition, upon whom the ends of the world 
are come”; “were written for our warning who 
live in the end of ages.”— ConybeareandHowson. 
How solemn this declaration! Upon us in the 
present dispensation, the ends of the world have 
fallen; and we have approached almost two 
thousand years nearer that final end than the 
apostle lived; and here we stand on the very 
verge of eternity. Just a step before us lies the 
end of the world. Since we now live in “the 
end of the ages,” there can be no thousand years 
age of time to follow this one. “But this is 
that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And 
it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, 
I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh” 
(Acts 2: 16, 17). The last days of this world 


98 


CHIRST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


began with the present Holy Spirit dispensa¬ 
tion. The last time is here, and salvation is now 
or never. In Heb. 9:26 it is clearly stated 
that Jesus appeared “in the end of the world to 
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” “At 
the full end of the ages.”— Young's Transla¬ 
tion. “Completion of the ages .”—Emphatic 
Diaglott. So the sacrifice of Christ for the 
sins of the world was at the beginning of the 
last dispensation, the full end of the ages, and 
nothing more but eternity is before us. So the 
present gospel age is the consummation of all 
time, the completion of all the ages allotted to 
this world. Hence the supposed millennium age 
is a delusion. 

Now is the great day of salvation. Time 
and salvation will end with the present gospel 
era. Reader, let me impress this fact. As pro¬ 
bation ends with time, and salvation with pro¬ 
bation, and the inspired apostle declared that 
he knew this is the last time, it follows as an 
absolute certainty that right now, under the 
abounding grace of God, the human family is 
enjoying its last chance of salvation, and this 
world is moving through its last epoch of time. 
In the face of these facts, how weighty are the 
solemn words of the apostle as recorded in 1 Pet. 


THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION 


99 


4: 7—“The end of all things is at hand. Be ye 
therefore sober and watch unto prayer.” Jesus 
taught that when this gospel of the kingdom 
shall be preached in all the world for a witness 
unto all nations, “then shall the end come” 
(Matt. 24: 14). Here again we see that with 
the closing of the gospel age comes the end of 
all things; that is, the end of salvation, of pro¬ 
bation, and of this world. Paul, speaking of 
the resurrection of the dead at Christ’s coming, 
says, “then cometh the end” (1 Cor. 15: 20-24). 
“Cometh,” is not in the original. “Then the 
end” is the correct rendering. When the sev¬ 
enth trumpet (elsewhere called the “trump of 
God,” “last trump,” etc., which shall call forth 
the dead, 1 Cor. 15:51, 52; 1 Thess. 4:16) 
shall sound, then there shall be “time no longer” 
(Rev. 10: 4-7). If God’s word be true, we are 
living in the full end of the ages, in the last 
time. 

In the present dispensation we are the sub¬ 
jects of Time. With gigantic footsteps he bears 
us to our future. There is no escape from his 
course. Few are the human hearts so hardened 
but at some time or other they are melted into 
pity; but were the whole universe in tears over 


100 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


the rapid sweep of Time, his silent course would 
not be stayed, nor his iron heart be moved. On, 
still on, he presses; but not forever. The period 
comes on apace when his own death knell shall 
ring. Swallowed up in eternity, his iron heart 
shall yet be melted to pity; yea, shall feel the 
sting of death. “And the angel which I saw 
stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted 
up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that 
liveth forever and ever, . . . that there 

should be time no longer” (Rev. 10: 5, 6). The 
iron barriers of the tombs which he has built 
shall be broken asunder, and the numberless 
dead shall gather the scattered fragments to 
build an eternal sepulcher to him who has laid 
so many in their last repose, but who shall then 
be wrapped in the unending sleep of eternity. 


“THE TIME IS FULFILLED” 

We have already shown in a previous chapter 
that the Old Testament prophecies point to the 
first advent of Christ as the time when the king¬ 
dom of heaven would be established. We shall 
now consider some plain New Testament scrip¬ 
tures that teach this fact. 



‘THE TIME IS FULFILLED 


101 


“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gos¬ 
pel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time 
is fulfilled , the kingdom of God is at hand ” 
(Mark 1: 14, 15). This text is decisive. When 
Christ appeared and began his great ministry 
for the salvation of the world, the predictions 
of the Old Testament seers relative to the time 
of the establishment of the everlasting kingdom 
of God were fulfilled. Observe closely the lan¬ 
guage, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of 
God is at hand." 

Millennium teachers place the establishment 
of the kingdom at Christ’s second advent, but 
the above text refutes their theory and proves 
conclusively that the kingdom was established 
at the time of Christ’s first coming. The dis¬ 
pensation of the glorious gospel of infinite 
mercy and manifestation of eternal truth by 
Jesus Christ was now to open fully to all man¬ 
kind. This is the kingdom of heaven. 

“The law and the prophets were until John: 
since that time the kingdom of God is preached 
and every man presseth into it” (Luke 16: 16). 
During John’s ministry he preached saying, 
“Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand” (Matt. 3:2). Since the ministry of 
John “was the beginning of the gospel of Jesus 


102 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


Christ” (see Mark 1:1), when the new order 
of things was introduced, the doors of the king¬ 
dom were even then thrown open and it is said 
that men “pressed into it.” How could men 
press into a kingdom that was not to be estab¬ 
lished for two thousand years future? Prepos¬ 
terous. All these texts prove that the kingdom 
was then present. Both John and Jesus taught 
that this kingdom was at hand. “From that 
time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 
4: 17). “And from the days of John the Bap¬ 
tist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth 
violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 
11: 12). “Jesus said, And if I cast out devils 
by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God 
is come unto you.” What reasoning could be 
attached to such scriptures as these, were it not 
true that the kingdom of God had already ap¬ 
peared? “And when Jesus saw that he answered 
discreetly, he said unto him, Thou are not far 
from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12: 34). Ac¬ 
cording to the millennium theory, this man was 
about two thousand years away from the king¬ 
dom. But Jesus did not hold this theory, but 
held up and preached the kingdom of God as 
something to be received and entered now. 


CHRIST ON DAVID’S THRONE 


103 


Do not overlook the fact that men actually 
“pressed into” the kingdom, therefore, the king¬ 
dom was set up in the days of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Speaking of his disciples, Christ said, 
“But I tell you of a truth, there be some stand¬ 
ing here that shall not taste of death till they 
see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:27). “And 
he saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That 
there be some of them that stand here, which 
shall not taste of death, till they have seen the 
kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1). 
“Verily I say unto you, there be some standing 
here which shall not taste of death until they 
see the Son of man coming in his kingdom” 
(Matt. 16: 28). In the name of Jesus, we ask, In 
the face of such plain scriptures, who can teach 
that the establishing of God’s kingdom is yet 
future ? 

But there was to be a definite time when the 
kingdom in its organic form, in all its glory and 
power was to come. Now mark the fact that 
Christ said to his disciples, “I tell you of a 
truth, there be some standing here which shall 
not taste of death till they see the kingdom of 
God.” We would be willing to stake this whole 
argument on these last three texts. If millen- 
nialism be true, the disciples are yet living 


104 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


somewhere upon the earth. But the fact that 
they are all dead proves beyond question that 
the kingdom of God is already come. But when 
were these texts fulfilled ? I answer, “And when 
the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were 
all with one accord in one place. And suddenly 
there came a sound from heaven as of a rush¬ 
ing mighty wind, and it filled all the house 
where they were sitting. . . . And they were 

all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to 
speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave 
them utterance” (Acts 2: 1-4). “For the king¬ 
dom of God is not meat and drink, but right¬ 
eousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” 
(Rom. 14:17). “For the kingdom of God is 
not in word, but in power ” (1 Cor. 4:20). “Ye 
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost 
is come upon j^ou” (Acts 1:8). This is too 
clear to need comment. Pentecost is the time 
referred to when the kingdom in all its glory— 
the New Testament church in its organic form 
—was fully established. 

Paul testified to the Colossian brethren that 
God “hath translated us into the kingdom of 
his dear Son” (Col. 1:13). This was not a 
matter of expectation or anticipation of some¬ 
thing to be received and enjoyed in a future 


CHRIST ON DAVID’S THRONE 


105 


millennial age, but right now in this present 
world he instructed saved people to “walk 
worthy of God who hath called you unto his 
kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:12). Thank 
God, this is a present experience. The very 
thing millennialists are looking for in a future 
age, the saints now enjoy in this last and best 
dispensation of time. The kingdom of God is 
here. 

In fulfilment of Daniel’s prophecy, the time 
has come when the saints possess the kingdom. 
“Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which can 
not be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may 
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly 
fear” (Heb. 12:28). John testified that he 
was “in the kingdom and patience of Jesus 
Christ” (Rev. 1:9). While Cerinthus, the mil¬ 
lennium teacher, was advocating a future lit¬ 
eral kingdom, which people could enter in an 
age to come, John positively declared that right 
now, in this present dispensation, he already was 
in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Peter denom¬ 
inates the church in this dispensation “a royal 
priesthood”; that is, a priesthood of kings (1 
Pet. 2:9). “They which received abundance of 
grace and of the gift of righteousness shall 
reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17). 


106 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


Many more scriptures could be brought forth, 
but we deem the foregoing sufficient to prove to 
any reasonable mind that the kingdom of God 
was fully set up and established by Christ in 
the beginning of the Christian era. 


CHRIST ON DAVID'S THRONE 

In order to sustain their position, those who 
hold to the millennium theory claim that Christ 
is not now sitting on the throne of David in this 
dispensation; and that, therefore, there must 
be another age, a period of a thousand years, in 
which Christ will sit upon the throne of David. 
Some of them go so far as to say that the 
throne of David will be reestablished in Jeru¬ 
salem, and that Christ will there reign over 
literal Israel, who, as a nation, will again be 
restored to their former glory. To the natural 
mind this may sound very beautiful, and it may 
appeal to some as very plausible; but a careful 
investigation of the truth of the Bible will clear¬ 
ly reveal that such theories are but mere spec¬ 
ulations of human minds, and are not really 
found in Holy Writ. 

In the first place, the literal throne of David 



CHRIST ON DAVID’S THRONE 


107 


never can be reestablished, for it was destroyed 
centuries ago. By “throne” is meant sovereign 
power and dignity. Therefore, as David was 
exalted to this place of power and government 
in Israel, so the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the 
seed of David, was to be raised up and exalted 
to a state and place of sovereign power; a king 
to rule in righteousness. This is all that can 
be meant by Christ’s sitting upon the throne of 
David. If it can be shown that Christ now, dur¬ 
ing the present dispensation, fills this place, 
that Christ now occupies the very place and po¬ 
sition that the prophets foretold; then the mil¬ 
lennial contention will be refuted. 

Open your Bible to 2 Sam. 7: 12-16: “And 
when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep 
with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after 
thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and 
I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an 
house for my name, and I will establish the 
throne of his kingdom forever. . . . And 

thine house and thy kingdom shall be estab¬ 
lished forever before thee: thy throne shall be 
established forever.” If we find clear evidence 
that it is in this dispensation that Christ was 
to sit upon David’s throne, then why look for 
another age in which to accomplish that which 


108 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


is being fulfilled in the present one? Note the 
foregoing prophecy. It was God’s promise to 
David. Primarily, it reached its fulfilment in 
Solomon, who sat upon David’s throne; but in 
it is contained a clear reference to the govern¬ 
ment of the spiritual kingdom—the kingdom of 
the Messiah. “I will establish the throne of his 
kingdom forever.” “Thine house and thy king¬ 
dom shall be established forever.” This refers 
to Christ and the spiritual kingdom he came 
to establish. The “house” in this prophecy re¬ 
fers both to the temple Solomon built at Jeru¬ 
salem and to the church which Christ estab¬ 
lished; the church for this is declared to be 
“the house of God, which is the church of the 
living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” 
Solomon’s temple was a type of the New Testa¬ 
ment church. The real burden of the entire 
prophecy reaches its glorious fulfilment in 
Christ. 

Now, let the reader observe that at the very 
time this kingdom and throne of David was 
to be established forever, it was said of David 
himself, “Thou shalt sleep with thy fathers.” 
So instead of Christ’s sitting on David’s throne 
after the resurrection, as millennial teachers 
declare, this text proves that it was to take 


CHRIST ON DAVID’S THRONE 


109 


place while David was still sleeping with his 
fathers. How beautifully this harmonizes with 
the New Testament declaration of Peter re¬ 
corded in Acts 2: 29, 30: “Men and brethren, 
let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch 
David, that he is both dead and buried, and his 
sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore 
being a prophet, and knowing that God hath 
sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of 
his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise 
up Christ to sit on his throne.” Here we have 
the application of God’s promise to David. It 
referred to Christ and reached its fulfilment at 
the time of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. 
David himself refers to this promise in Psa. 
132: 11: “The Lord hath sworn in truth unto 
David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of 
thy body will I set upon thy throne.” It is 
clear that the prophet was here speaking direct¬ 
ly of Christ when he said “of the fruit of thy 
body will I set upon thy throne.” Paul writes, 
“Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, 
which was made of the seed of David according 
to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God 
with power, according to the spirit of holiness, 
by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1: 

3, 4). 


110 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


Instead of pointing to a future age for the 
fulfilment of these prophecies, the apostles clear¬ 
ly understood them already fulfilled in this dis¬ 
pensation; and certainly we are safe in accept¬ 
ing the apostle’s interpretation rather than the 
fancied theories of men at this present time. 
The fulfilment of this scripture, as mentioned 
in the second chapter of Acts, clearly evinces 
the fact that in this dispensation Christ was to 
sit upon David’s throne. We turn to Isa. 9: 
5-7: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a 
son is given: and the government shall be upon 
his shoulder: and his name shall be called Won¬ 
derful, Counselor, The mighty God, The ever¬ 
lasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the 
increase of his government and peace there shall 
be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon 
his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with 
judgment and with justice from henceforth even 
forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will per¬ 
form this.” This is an illustrative prophecy of 
the incarnation of Christ, with an enumeration 
of those characteristics in which he stands most 
nearly related to mankind as their Savior, and 
by which his infinite majesty and godhead are 
shown. He is called Wonderful; wonderful in 
his conception, birth, preaching, miracles, suf- 


CHRIST ON DAVID’S THRONE 


111 


ferings, death, resurrection, and ascension; won¬ 
derful in his person, and wonderful in his work¬ 
ing. He is the Counselor that expounds the law, 
shows its origin, nature, and claims. He ever 
appears in the presence of God for men. He is 
the mighty God—“God manifest in the flesh.” 
The everlasting Father—the origin of all 
things, the cause of existence, the Father of the 
spirits of all flesh; the Prince of Peace. The 
government rests on his shoulder, and upon his 
throne in his kingdom, he executes judgment 
and justice; and the increase of his government 
and peace shall continue forever. To it there 
shall be no end. 

But when should all be fulfilled? At the be¬ 
ginning of the Christian dispensation or at the 
beginning of a supposed millennial age? The 
answer is positive and clear. It was when a 
“child” was “born” unto us, when a “son” was 
“given.” From this it is obvious that the reign 
of Jesus Christ on the throne of David began in 
the days of his incarnation. And this is set¬ 
tled beyond question by the angel’s announce¬ 
ment to Mary, as recorded in Luke 1: 31-33: 
“Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor 
with God, and, behold thou shalt conceive in thy 
womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his 


112 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be 
called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God 
shall give unto him the throne of his father 
David; and he shall reign over the house of 
Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall 
be no end.” Now do we have two dispensations 
presented in this prophecy? Not by any means. 
The birth of Christ, his name, his throne and 
reign, are all connected and must be in the same 
dispensation; that is, in the present one. This 
text refers to him as the everlasting head and 
sovereign of his church. His government and 
kingdom shall be eternal. Revolutions may 
destroy the kingdoms of the earth, but the 
powers of hell and death shall never be able to 
destroy the kingdom of Christ. His is the only 
dominion that shall never have an end. Here 
we have the glory, extent, and perpetuity of the 
evangelical kingdom. 

All these scriptures clearly locate Christ’s 
kingdom and reign as beginning at his first ad¬ 
vent. It was when he was born into the world 
as a son that he became a king and established 
his kingdom. And this is identical with his sit¬ 
ting on the throne of David. Christ was “born 
King of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2). Note Na¬ 
thaniel’s greeting to Christ: “Thou art the 


CHRIST ON DAVID’S THRONE 


113 


Son of God; thou art the King of Israel” (John 
1:49). At the time of Christ’s triumphant 
entry into Jerusalem, the whole multitude of 
disciples cried out, “Blessed be the king that 
cometh in the name of the Lord.” “Hosanna! 
Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the 
name of the Lord.” This fulfilled the prophet’s 
predictions—“Tell ye the daughter of Sion, be¬ 
hold thy king cometh unto thee.” “Pilate asked 
Jesus, art thou the King of the Jews?” (Matt. 
27:11). In reply, Jesus said, “Thou sayest 
that I am a King. To this end was I born, and 
for this cause came I into the world” (John 
18:37). The Jews well understood that Christ 
claimed to be the king of Israel, for while hang¬ 
ing on the cross in the throes of death, the 
scribes and elders said, “He saved others, him¬ 
self he can not save. If he be the King of 
Israel, let him now come down from the cross, 
and we will believe him” (Matt. 27:42). All 
these texts confirm the fact that Christ began 
his reign on the throne of David, during the 
days of his incarnation. Being born a king, 
and clothed with all the authority of heaven, he 
began to deliver and to execute the laws of his 
spiritual kingdom. His authority was supreme. 
The people were compelled to say, “Never man 


114 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


spake like this man,” and even his enemies ad¬ 
mitted that “he spake as one having authority, 
and not as the scribes.” But in a much greater 
and more comprehensive sense are these proph¬ 
ecies fulfilled since Christ has risen from the 
dead, ascended into heaven, and sent forth the 
Holy Spirit as his personal representative on 
earth, to execute his law and to point out the 
way of full salvation he purchased on the cross. 

“Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto 
you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead 
and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto 
this day. Therefore being a prophet, and know¬ 
ing that God had sworn with an oath to him, 
that of the fruit of his loins, according to the 
flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his 
throne; he, seeing this before, spake of the 
resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left 
in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This 
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are 
witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand 
of God exalted, and having received of the - 
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath 
shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For 
David is not ascended into the heavens: but he 
saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit 
thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes 


CHRIST ON DAVID S THRONE 


115 


thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of 
Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that 
same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord 
and Christ” (Acts 2:29-36). 

It would seem that this language is so clear 
that none could misunderstand it. Peter was 
preaching to the Jews, and assured them that 
the promise of God to David, sworn to, and 
confirmed by an oath, declared “that of the fruit 
of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise 
up Christ to sit on his throne,” that this Jesus 
“hath God raised up,” yea, “let all the house 
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made 
this Jesus whom ye crucified, both Lord and 
Christ.” He is the supreme governor of all 
things, and all persons, Jews and Gentiles, an¬ 
gels and men. 

David said that Christ would be put to death. 
He also foresaw that if Christ were not resur¬ 
rected, he could not sit upon his throne forever. 
Since he came sitting upon the throne of David 
during his incarnation, he must be resurrected 
in order to continue upon the throne. The 
prophet “seeing this before, spoke of the resur¬ 
rection of Christ, that his soul was not left in 
hell—hades—neither did his flesh see corrup¬ 
tion.” Had his flesh seen corruption, then the 


116 


CHRIST'S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


prophecy that Christ was to sit upon David’s 
throne henceforth, even forever, would have been 
nullified; but as his body did not see corruption, 
he continued to reign upon the throne of David. 
You see, the apostle here quotes the language 
of David in Psa. 132: 11, and he presents the 
same to us as being fulfilled at that time, which 
gives us positive proof that this dispensation is 
the one in which Christ would reign upon 
David’s throne. 

“And after they had held their peace, James 
answered, saying, Men and brethren, harken 
unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the 
first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them 
a people for his name. And to this agree the 
words of the prophets; as it is written, After 
this I will return, and will build again the taber¬ 
nacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will 
build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it 
up: that the residue of men might seek after 
the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my 
name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all 
these things” (Acts 15:13-17). 

The visiting the Gentiles and the seeking a 
people out of them for his name, you will ob¬ 
serve, was building the tabernacle of David; 
and the throne of David was in the tabernacle 


CHRIST ON DAVID’S THRONE 


117 


of David. We then have Christ sitting upon 
David’s throne in this dispensation, because it 
is in this dispensation that the Gentiles are 
chosen as the people for his name. “That the 
residue of men might seek the Lord, and all the 
Gentiles upon whom my name is called, saith the 
Lord.” Thus we find in the Old Testament 
declarations of this prophecy, and also in the 
explicit language in which the New Testament 
citation of its fulfilment is expressed, the clear¬ 
est evidence that could be desired by any one, 
that Christ now sits upon David's throne. 

I will call the reader’s attention to another 
fact. A careful reading of many of the proph¬ 
ecies of the Old Testament shows that “David” 
is frequently a title for Christ. This being true, 
it follows that if Christ sits upon his throne, it 
must be David’s throne. Since “throne” means 
sovereign power and dignity, Christ being by 
the right hand of God exalted, “when he raised 
him from the dead” clothed with “all power in 
heaven and in earth,” and his sitting down at 
God’s own right hand in the heavens, “crowned 
with glory and honor,” “far above all prin¬ 
cipality and power, and every name that is 
named, both in heaven and on earth,” he surely 
exercises greater and more universal sovereign 


118 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


power than David ever exercised during his 
earthly reign over literal Israel. 

The distinctions between nations disappeared 
at the cross. Since that time, literal Israel is 
no more the chosen people of God. While the 
law and its blessings were to one nation, the 
gospel is good tidings of great joy to all na¬ 
tions in all the world. Paul positively declares, 
in speaking with direct reference to Jews and 
Gentiles, that “there is no difference.” “God 
is no respecter of persons,” “but in every na¬ 
tion, he that feareth him, and worketh right¬ 
eousness, is accepted with him.” The Jews as 
a nation are no longer more favored than the 
Gentiles. They have the same privileges in the 
gospel. Salvation is not a national affair, but 
an individual matter. Every man and every 
woman on earth is responsible themselves for 
their eternal destiny. So if the Jews will be¬ 
lieve on Christ and accept him, individually, the 
veil will be taken from their hearts, and they 
will be “grafted in again,” the same as the Gen¬ 
tiles. In the beginning of the Christian era, 
thousands of them did accept Christ, and the 
rest were blinded because of their unbelief. The 
Gentiles, as fast as they have accepted Christ 
and believed on his name, have been saved as 


CHRIST ON DAVID’S THRONE 


119 


well as the Jews. It will continue thus until 
the end of time. Both Jews and Gentiles are 
placed on the same plane; both must come into 
Christ’s kingdom by the door of repentance and 
faith; both must accept Christ individually, and 
all those who will not do this, both Jews and 
Gentiles, will be lost. Now, all who do accept 
Christ, from among both Jews and Gentiles, 
constitute the New Testament church, or king¬ 
dom. 

Paul says that these children of Christ are 
the seed of Abraham, “heirs according to the 
promise”; “for if ye be Christ’s then are ye 
Abraham’s seed.” This is the “true Israel of 
God.” In the Christian dispensation, the real 
and only seed of Abraham is the spiritual seed, 
the children of promise, those who are saved 
out of all nations through the blood of Jesus. 
This is the New Testament church. And since 
Christ is “head over all things to the church,” 
its governor, lawmaker, and the king of saints, 
we see clearly how the Old Testament prophecies 
are fulfilled during the Christian era, in that 
Christ now sits on the throne of David and 
reigns “the Prince of peace.” 


120 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


THE GREAT REDEMPTIVE REIGN 

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
shall all be made alive. But every man in his 
own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they 
that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh 
the end, when he shall have delivered up the 
kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall 
have put down all rule, and all authority and 
power. For he must reign, till he hath put all 
enemies under his feet. The last enemy that 
shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all 
things under his feet. But when he saith, All 
things are put under him, it is manifest that 
he is excepted, which did put all things under 
him. And when all things shall be subdued unto 
him, then shall the Son also himself be subject 
unto him, that put all things under him, that 
God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15: 22-28). 

In the above scriptures the following truths 
are clearly expressed: 

First , There will be a universal resurrection 
of the dead; “For as in Adam all die, even so 
in Christ shall all be made alive.” 

Second , This resurrection will take place at 
the time of Christ’s coming—“They that are 
Christ’s at his coming .” From Jesus’ own lan- 


THE GREAT REDEMPTIVE REIGN 121 


guage in John 5: 28, 29 we are sure that the 
final resurrection will be universal, including 
both they “that have done good” and “they that 
have done evil,” and both will “come forth at 
the same hour,” “at the last trump.” 

Third , With the second coming of Christ and 
the resurrection of the dead, comes the end — 
“Then the end”; that is, the end of time, the 
end of probation, the end of opportunity to ob¬ 
tain salvation, the end of this world. 

Fourth , With the resurrection of the dead, 
the last enemy—death—shall be destroyed. 

Fifth , Christ must reign until he has put all 
enemies under his feet. From this we learn that 
Christ reigns while his enemies are being sub¬ 
jected, and not after their subjection. The last 
one to be destroyed will be death, and the de¬ 
struction of this last enemy is accomplished by 
the general resurrection on the last day; for 
with the resurrection of the dead, death itself 
will be destroyed. This unmistakably proves 
that Christ’s reign is before the resurrection, 
and not after it, as millennium teachers assert. 
This establishes the time of the great redemptive 
reign. 

What is the nature of the reign of Christ 
spoken of in the text quoted from First Corin- 


122 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


thians? A careful study of the subject shows 
that there are many interesting truths con¬ 
nected with Christ’s reign, and one of them is 
brought out in the language of this head; name¬ 
ly, Christ’s redemptive reign. For four thou¬ 
sand years, sin and death held sway over the 
entire human family. Satan robbed man of the 
“first dominion”; robbed him of his God-given 
privileges and right to have dominion over the 
earth and all it contains—the right to live upon 
the plane of God’s own holiness and to enjoy 
the felicities of his divine approval. As a result 
of the fall, sin, death, misery, spiritual darkness, 
and woe, yea, all the train of suffering, sorrow, 
heartaches, and wickedness that has prevailed in 
all nations among all people down through the 
ages, was entailed upon the human family 
Satan, as usurper, became “prince of this 
world,” “prince of the power of the air.” He 
held the entire human family under his iron 
grasp; hence death reigned from Adam to 
Christ—spiritual death, which is the result of 
sin. Sin held dominion, and the law was too 
weak to deliver. At that time all were slaves 
under bondage; but in fulfilment of the many 
prophecies which pointed forward to a better 
day, a day of salvation and deliverance, when 


THE GREAT REDEMPTIVE REIGN 123 


the power of sin and hell would be broken and a 
“KING” would “reign in righteousness”—and 
the “Lord shall be king over all the earth”— 
Christ came “preaching the gospel of the king¬ 
dom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled; 
the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye and 
believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14, 15). Being 
born a king, he set up his everlasting kingdom 
of righteousness, grace, and truth, in direct op¬ 
position to the kingdom of darkness, and the 
result was that hundreds and thousands of souls 
were delivered through the exercise of his al¬ 
mighty power. 

God “anointed Jesus of Nazareth, who went 
about doing good, and healing all who were op¬ 
pressed of the devil.” Christ loosed from the 
bond of her infirmity the woman whom Satan 
had bound eighteen years. Not only did he 
minister deliverance to thousands of those upon 
whom Satan had imposed bodily or physical in¬ 
firmities, but many who were actually possessed 
of demons, who were under the control and 
power of the devil, Christ gloriously delivered. 
Devils crying with loud voices came out of many 
that were possessed of them. To the penitent 
sinner, Christ ministered salvation, saying, “Thy 
sins are forgiven thee.” He ordained and sent 


124 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


forth twelve apostles, and again seventy others 
also, with instruction to preach, “The kingdom 
of heaven is at hand.” “And he gave them 
power against unclean spirits to cast them out, 
to heal all manner of sickness and all manner 
of diseases.” The seventy returned saying, 
“Lord, even the devils are subject unto us 
through thy name. And he said unto them, I 
beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” 
(Luke 10: 17, 18). 

From this we see that Christ came to earth 
on a special mission, and that during his incar¬ 
nation, or the time of his earthly ministry, he 
set up his kingdom, and began his reign of right¬ 
eousness in direct opposition to the kingdom 
of Satan, sin, and darkness. The result was 
that Satan’s kingdom began to tremble and 
fall. Jesus compared it to lightning falling 
from heaven; that is, as a flash of lightning 
falls from heaven, so he saw r Satan fall and his 
kingdom vanish. Then to his disciples, with all 
authority, he says, “Behold, I give unto you 
power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and 
over all the power of the enemy: and nothing 
shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10: 19). 
This was the beginning of Christ’s great re¬ 
demptive reign. 


THE GREAT REDEMPTIVE REIGN 125 


Its object was to restore to man the very 
thing that Satan and sin had robbed him of in 
the beginning. But in order to complete this 
great work and make possible the salvation of 
a ruined world, it was necessary for Christ to 
go down into death and the grave, and then be 
resurrected triumphantly, breaking the bars of 
death asunder. Since then Christ has been 
vested, or clothed, with all power in heaven and 
in earth: power to fully save, sanctify, and re¬ 
deem mankind from the last effects of the fall. 
By rising from the grave, Christ destroyed “him 
that had the power of deatl\, that is, the devil” 
(Heb. 2:14). Thus, man’s redemption was 
sealed, and a multitude of captives were led 
forth to victory. The prophecy of Isaiah was 
fulfilled in that the prison doors were opened 
to them that were bound. Thus, as expressed 
in Christ’s own language, was ‘the prince of this 
world cast out.’ Satan’s power was broken, and 
Christ was raised up “a prince and a Savior.” 
In other words, Satan was dethroned from the 
high place that he had usurped, and held for so 
many thousand years, and the everlasting king¬ 
dom of God in Jesus Christ triumphed. 

From the record of the temptation in the 
wilderness, it appears that Satan foresaw this, 


126 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


and therefore made a desperate attempt to 
thwart and hinder the real work and mission of 
Christ. He took Jesus up into a high mountain, 
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world 
and the glory of them, and said, “All these 
things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down 
and worship me.” Some have said that there 
was nothing to this; that Satan was only pre¬ 
tending; but I believe a careful investigation 
of the facts will reveal a depth of meaning here 
that it is well to consider. This was a tempta¬ 
tion. Had Satan just been pretending, there 
certainly would not have been any temptation 
connected with this offer. My understanding of 
it is this: Satan, being the prince of this world, 
and holding that position so long, well knew 
that the time was approaching when his power, 
authority, and kingdom would be broken to 
pieces by the power and authority and kingdom 
Christ came to establish. He also knew that in 
order for Christ to accomplish his great work, 
he must suffer the ignominy of his own nation, 
be rejected by the rulers, and die the tragic 
death of the lowest criminal, the death of the 
cross. Now comes his tempting offer. It was 
virtually this: “I will simply give, or hand 
over, to you all that you came to accomplish, 


THE GREAT REDEMPTIVE REIGN 127 


and will save you the suffering and death 
through which you must pass; but I require 
one thing: fall down and worship me.” This 
was a temptation, and had Christ yielded, Satan 
would have conquered, the whole plan of re¬ 
demption would have been spoiled, and the world 
forever lost. Thank God, Christ conquered; 
he overcame that wicked one; therefore the sal¬ 
vation of the world was secured. 

After his glorious resurrection from the dead, 
Christ ascended into heaven, “crowned with 
glory and honor,” and took his seat at the right 
hand of God, upon a mediatorial throne. There 
he intercedes for the salvation of men and, 
through the Holy Spirit, executes the great 
salvation-work for which he died upon the cross. 
Having ascended into heaven, he shed forth the 
Holy Spirit at Pentecost, when the Christian 
church as a separate, distinct institution, the 
visible, organic form of the kingdom of Christ 
on earth, was established and became a mighty 
working-force in the world. Thus, the first 
great enemies destroyed—subdued—in the re¬ 
demptive reign of Christ, which began even dur¬ 
ing his earthly ministry, were sin, and spiritual 
death; and Satan himself, the prince of dark¬ 
ness, was conquered by the Lord. 


128 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


At the time of the introduction of Chris¬ 
tianity, a system of false religion was almost 
universal, and the world was held fast under its 
iron rule. It was paganism under the Roman 
government. Rome was the fourth universal 
kingdom that ruled the earth, and it was holding 
supreme power when Christ appeared to set up 
the everlasting kingdom of God. Rome’s re¬ 
ligion was purely heathen. As soon as the apos¬ 
tles went everywhere throughout the Roman 
kingdom preaching the gospel and planting 
Christian churches, Christianity incurred the 
hatred and opposition of this pagan system and 
its adherents. Thus a great conflict between 
pure primitive Christianity and paganism took 
place. This is brought to view in the book of 
symbols (Revelation). 

“And there appeared a great wonder in 
heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the 
moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown 
of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, 
travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; 
and behold a great red dragon, having seven 
heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his 
heads. And his tail drew the third part of the 
stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: 


THE GREAT REDEMPTIVE REIGN 129 


and the dragon stood before the woman which 
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her 
child as soon as it was born. And she brought 
forth a man child, who was to rule all nations 
with a rod of iron: and her child was caught 
up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman 
fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place 
prepared of God, that they should feed her 
there a thousand two hundred and threescore 
days. And there was war in heaven: Michael 
and his angels fought against the dragon; and 
the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed 
not; neither was their place found any more in 
heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, 
that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, 
which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out 
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with 
him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 
Now is come salvation, and strength, and the 
kingdom of our God, and the power of his 
Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast 
down, which accused them before our God day 
and night. And they overcame him by the blood 
of the Lamb, and by the word of their testi¬ 
mony; and they loved not their lives unto the 
death” (Rev. 12:1-11). 

The kingdom of God on earth was represented 


130 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


by the church of God, and it soon came into 
conflict with all the vile powers of heathenism 
enthroned in the Roman Empire. But the king¬ 
dom Christ established was destined to over¬ 
throw all the kingdoms of pagan darkness and 
to stand forever. It was that stone (Dan. 2: 
31-3*5) which smote the iron kingdoms of pagan¬ 
ism under the Roman power and broke them to 
pieces. In the above passage from Revelation, 
we have a woman clothed with the sun, which 
represents the early church, who is opposed 
by the great red dragon having seven heads and 
ten horns. This great dragon, which is easily 
identified by its heads and horns, symbolizes 
the Roman Empire under its pagan form. We 
notice that the church is set forth in a double 
symbol—a woman and her son—in order to 
show two phases of her existence during the 
great apostasy. The phase represented by the 
man child who was “caught up unto God, and 
to his throne” is that phase of the church which 
was cut off from the earth through martyrdom 
and persecution; while the phase represented by 
the woman who “fled into the wilderness” is that 
phase of the church which continued on earth, 
but was hidden by the great apostasy. 

Next appears a great warfare between 


THE GREAT REDEMPTIVE REIGN 131 


Michael—Christ—and his angels, and the drag¬ 
on. This represents the early conflict of Chris¬ 
tianity with paganism. The result was: “The 
great dragon was cast out.” Christianity tri¬ 
umphed over heathenism. “And I heard a loud 
voice saying in heaven, NOW is come salvation 
and strength, and the kingdom of our God , and 
the power of his Christ, for the accuser of our 
brethren is cast down . . . and they over¬ 

came him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the 
word of their testimony; and they loved not 
their lives unto the death.” Here we have the 
glorious triumph of Christianity, during its 
primitive period, over the great systems of 
heathenism. And just such a triumph did take 
place, as all those who are acquainted with the 
pages of history know. While the pagans 
fought with sword and fagot and beasts of the 
earth, slaughtering thousands of the people of 
God, the Christians went forth to battle with no 
other weapon but the blood of the Lamb and 
the word of their testimony. And, thank God, 
“they overcame.” Those early Christians were 
consecrated, for “they loved not their lives unto 
the death.” They gladly went to the chopping- 
block, to the amphitheater, to the stake; but 
they went testifying that the blood of Jesus 


132 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


saves. And it is a historical fact that often 
with the literal slaughter of a few Christians, 
great numbers of heathen would be convicted 
and convinced of the truth, and turn to Christ. 
Then the time came when a decree went forth 
from the Emperor himself, that all the heathen 
temples should be destroyed and Christianity 
become the universal religion of the Empire. 
Thus in the progress of Christ’s reign, one after 
another of his great enemies were defeated. This 
began to fulfil the Psalmist’s prediction, “The 
Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right 
hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” 
Millions in those primitive times were saved 
from sin, raised up to the real plane of holiness, 
and reigned in life through the abundant grace 
of God. 

The next great antagonistic power to combat 
Christ’s true kingdom is brought to view in 
Rev. 13:1-10, also in Revelation 17. This was 
the papacy—a false and corrupt form of Chris¬ 
tianity. But finally, after a long conflict which 
covered a period of twelve hundred and sixty 
years, in which thousands of saints were mar¬ 
tyred, and the corrupt woman — apostate 
church—was “drunken with the blood of saints, 
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus,” 


THE GREAT REDEMPTIVE REIGN 


133 


the Lamb overcame this power, and she was made 
“desolate and naked.” This, of course, refers 
to the fall of popedom which began under the 
great work of the Protestant reformers. 

After this arises another power under the 
symbol of a two-horned beast (see Rev. 13:11- 
18). This is Protestantism, or the period of 
sectarianism and division. In a strict sense, the 
apostate condition of the church covers the 
whole period of the reign of popery and also 
Protestantism, for the Protestant sects are none 
other than the harlot daughters of the great 
mother-denomination—Rome (see Rev. 17:5). 
And all these are included in the great “MYS¬ 
TERY BABYLON.” But in Revelation 18 is 
foretold the time of a great reformation in the 
onward progress of the kingdom of God and 
Christ’s redemptive reign, in which the down¬ 
fall of this antagonistic babel of confusion is 
declared, and God’s people are called out of her. 
Here we have the separation of the pure church 
from the whole realm and maze of apostasy, 
which is now being accomplished in the “evening 
light” age of the church. This pure redeemed 
church is brought to view in Rev. 15: 2, 3: “And 
I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: 
and them that had gotten the victory over the 


134 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


beast, and over his image, and over his mark, 
and over the number of his name, stand on the 
sea of glass, having the harps of God. And 
they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, 
and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and 
marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; 
just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” 
Notice that this mighty host of redeemed saints 
have the “victory over the beast, and over his 
image, and over his mark, and over the number 
of his name.” Thank God, here we have the 
triumph of God’s saints over false religions— 
the victory which is being enjoyed now in this 
blessed evening time. It will be further ob¬ 
served that this triumph gives honor to Christ 
and glory to his name, as the great “King of 
saints.” This triumph of Christ’s kingdom over 
the enemies of the church is further brought to 
view in Rev. 19: 1-8. 

Next, we see the beast, the kings of the earth, 
and their armies gather together to make war 
against Christ and his mighty host (see Rev. 
19:19). These are gathered together by un¬ 
clean spirits of devils. It is a gathering of the 
remnants of all the false religions of earth 
(Rev. 16: 13, 14). It is the final conflict before 
the revelation of Jesus Christ from heaven, 


THE GREAT REDEMPTIVE REIGN 135 


called “the battle of that great day of God 
almighty.” All this maze of false religion is 
seen under the figure, or symbol, of “Gog and 
Magog.” These will compass “the camp of the 
saints about, and the beloved city,” which rep¬ 
resents the pure church in this evening time. 
The preparation for this great and final con¬ 
flict is now going on, and already there is a 
confederation of the different false religions 
of earth against the pure church of God. 

But He who never lost a battle, who is sit¬ 
ting at the right hand of God, until every enemy 
is made his footstool (“for he must reign until 
he hath put all enemies under his feet”), shall 
triumph in this conflict also. For when the false 
religions are gathered together to strike one 
awful blow, fire will descend from heaven and 
devour them (see Rev. 20:9). This, to my 
mind, represents the coming of Jesus Christ “in 
flaming fire” in his second advent. The devil, 
as well as the advocates and adherents of every 
false religion of earth, will be cast into the lake 
of fire (Rev. 20: 10). At this same time the 
universal resurrection of the dead will take 
place, which will destroy the last enemy—death. 

When the last enemy shall be thus destroyed, 
this particular phase of Christ’s reign will have 


136 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


accomplished its purpose and will cease, for he 
will reign until every enemy is destroyed, which 
implies that when the last enemy—death—is 
destroyed, the redemptive reign will end. 

But the redemptive reign of Christ has a two¬ 
fold purpose. Not only is it intended to de¬ 
stroy all the enemies and antagonistic powers 
of the church and kingdom, but to restore what 
was lost through the fall. Christ reigns upon 
a mediatorial throne for the salvation of a lost 
world. While the world lasts, Jesus as the 
Messiah and mediator, must reign. His is a 
kingdom of grace and salvation, and his reign 
during this dispensation is for the redemption 
of mankind. He is the world’s advocate and 
Savior. In Acts 3:20, 21, we read that “He 
shall send Jesus Christ which before was 
preached unto you, whom the heaven must re¬ 
ceive until the time of restitution of all things, 
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his 
holy prophets since the world began.” Christ’s 
kingdom was established to restore to man the 
very thing he lost through the fall. 

The heavens will contain Christ until the last 
trump is sounded; then Christ will leave the 
mediatorial throne and take the judgment-seat, 
when the world will be left without an advocate, 


THE GREAT REDEMPTIVE REIGN 137 


without a Savior, without further opportunities 
of redemption. The numberless dead will all 
come forth, and the multitudes will be sum¬ 
moned before the great tribunal and stand be¬ 
fore the great white throne. At this time “every 
knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall 
confess to God.” Satan, the prince of dark¬ 
ness, with his demons, together with all the host 
of apostates and rebels who closed their pro¬ 
bationary state in rebellion against Christ’s 
throne, will fall before him and acknowledge him 
the “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” This 
will be the final great triumph. Then with an 
awful command, he will say to them on the left 
hand, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever¬ 
lasting fire”; “and these shall go away into 
everlasting punishment,” where they shall be 
“punished with everlasting destruction from the 
presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his 
power.” 

Then Christ will receive the innumerable 
company of redeemed saints who “have washed 
their robes, and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb.” These “shall be caught up to 
meet the Lord in the air,” and after this meet¬ 
ing, he will present them to his Father as the 
harvest, the fruit, the success and accomplish- 


138 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


ment, of his death and resurrection and great 
redemptive reign. This is the “restitution of 
all things.” What God lost in the fall, through 
Satan and sin, Christ now restores as a result 
of his great mission and work. What a day of 
triumph! What an hour of rejoicing! From 
the hour Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit 
during his baptism in the Jordan and began 
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 
until the judgment scene is closed, the wicked 
punished, and the righteous rewarded, all things 
have been committed to the Son. The Father 
committed the work of redemption and even the 
work of final judgment to his Son Jesus Christ; 
but when this particular work which was com¬ 
mitted to the Son is accomplished, Christ’s 
reign, or this particular phase of it, ceases, and 
he delivers back the “kingdom to God, even the 
Father.” The Son himself will be subject to 
the Father, who will reign “all in all” as from 
all eternity. 


THE REIGN OF GOD’S SAINTS ON EARTH 

Much has been written relative to a supposed 
reign of God’s people here on the earth, but the 



REIGN OF SAINTS ON EARTH 


139 


majority of the writers on this subject place 
this reign in a future millennium age. If it can 
be shown that the reign of God’s saints on earth 
is a present experience during this dispensation 
of divine grace, then the millennial contention 
of a future reign on earth is false. It may sur¬ 
prize some of our readers when I state positively 
that the notion of resurrected saints reigning 
on earth a thousand years with Christ is posi¬ 
tively without Scriptural support. A careful 
study of the texts used to support any such 
theory will show that they teach absolutely noth¬ 
ing of the kind. 

That the Bible teaches a reign of God’s peo¬ 
ple on earth, we do not deny; but instead of its 
being in a future age, thank God, it is the pres¬ 
ent experience of all those who are fully saved. 
This truth has already been introduced in the 
chapter entitled The Kingdom of Grace. We 
have proved that in this dispensation God’s 
people are “in the kingdom of his dear Son” 
and possess its elements in their hearts—“right¬ 
eousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Ghost”; 
Jesus plainly taught, “the kingdom of God is 
within you,” or, as some translators render it, 
“the reign of God is within you”; therefore, it 
is evident that identical with our induction into 


140 


CHRIST'S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


the kingdom and possessing the kingdom in us, 
the reign of God’s saints takes place. In fact 
it can not be otherwise. Possessing the king¬ 
dom and reigning through the grace of God 
is the same experience. Paul says, “That as 
sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace 
reign through righteousness unto eternal life 
by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:21). 

Dr. Clark says on this text: “As extensively, 
as deeply, as universally, as sin, whether imply¬ 
ing the act of transgression, or the impure prin¬ 
ciple from which the act proceeds, or both— 
hath reigned, subjected the whole earth and all 
its inhabitants; the whole soul, and all its pow¬ 
ers and faculties, unto death, temporal of the 
body, spiritual of the soul, and eternal of both; 
even so, as extensively, deeply, and universally, 
might grace reign, filling the whole earth, and 
pervading, purifying, and refining the whole 
soul; through righteousness, through this doc¬ 
trine of free salvation, by the blood of the Lamb, 
and by the principle of holiness transfused 
through the soul by the Holy Ghost: unto eter¬ 
nal life, the proper object of an immortal spirit’s 
hope, the only sphere where the human intellect 
can rest, and be happy in the place and state 
where God is; where he is seen as he is; and 


REIGN OF SAINTS ON EARTH 


141 


where he can be enjoyed without interruption in 
an eternal progression of knowledge and beati¬ 
tude: by Jesus Christ our Lord, as the cause 
of our salvation, the means by which it is com¬ 
municated, and the source whence it springs. 
Thus we find that the salvation from sin here, 
is as extensive and complete as the guilt and 
contamination of sin; death is conquered, hell 
disappointed, the devil confounded, and sin to¬ 
tally destroyed. Here is glorying, ‘unto Him 
that loved us and washed us from our sins in his 
own blood, and hath made us kings and priests 
to God and his Father, to him be glory and 
dominion forever and ever. Amen.’ Halle¬ 
lujah! The Lord God omnipotent reigneth! 
Amen and Amen.” 

This exegesis beautifully presents the truth 
concerning the reign of God’s grace in the hu¬ 
man soul, the result of which enables us, through 
God’s abundant favor and the possession of his 
own holiness, to reign triumphant in this life. 
“For if by one man’s offense death reigned by 
one; much more they which receive abundance 
of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall 
reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17). 
Death is here represented as reigning over man¬ 
kind; hut, thank God, those who receive the 


142 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


abundant grace offered by Jesus Christ are re¬ 
deemed from the empire of death and are ex¬ 
alted to sit in “heavenly places in Christ Je¬ 
sus” and reign in life. Reigning in life is the 
consequence of receiving the grace of God and 
the gift of righteousness. This is a present 
experience. Yes, dear reader, this reign is now, 
“in life” and not deferred to a supposed future 
and fancied millennial age. 

In Rev. 5: 9, 10, we have brought to view, 
in the very opening of the plan of redemption 
by Christ, the blood-washed throng who are 
praising Christ by saying, “Thou art worthy 
to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: 
for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to 
God by thy blood out of every kindred, and 
tongue, and people, and nation: and hast made 
us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall 
reign on the earth.” Here' we have the Chris¬ 
tian church composed of people of all nations, 
saved and redeemed through the blood of Jesus, 
which has made its members kings and priests 
unto God; and the result of this is that they 
shall reign on the earth. This does not refer 
to some future reign on the earth, but describes 
the reign of righteousness enjoyed by the peo¬ 
ple of God at the very beginning of, and 


REIGN OF SAINTS ON EARTH 


143 


throughout, the gospel dispensation. They were 
already kings and priests unto God. In Rother¬ 
ham’s Translation, this text is rendered, “And 
didst make them, to our God, a kingdom and 
priests; and they reign on the earth .” This 
gives the correct meaning. It is now that the 
saints are a kingdom of priests and reign on 
the earth. “And from Jesus Christ, who is the 
faithful witness, and the first begotten of the 
dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. 
Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our 
sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings 
and priests unto God and his Father; to him 
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” 
(Rev. 1:5, 6). This is a present experience 
of the people of God, and it begins at the time 
when he “washed us from our sins in his own 
blood.” 

Peter thus describes the church in this dis¬ 
pensation: “Ye are a chosen generation, a 
royal priesthood [kingly priesthood; that is, a 
priesthood of kings], an holy nation, a peculiar 
people; that ye should show forth the praises of 
him who hath called you out of darkness into 
his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). The very 
things that many people are looking for and ex¬ 
pecting to enjoy in some fancied age yet to 


144 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


come, it is the privilege of God’s people to enjoy 
at this present time. John in writing to the 
churches of Asia in the first century of Chris¬ 
tian grace declared that Jesus Christ “hath 
made us kings and priests unto God and his 
Father.” Right in harmony with this, John 
testifies of himself, that he was “in the king¬ 
dom and patience of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:9). 
God’s church in this dispensation is a priesthood 
of kings, who, through the grace and righteous¬ 
ness of God in Christ Jesus, “reign in life.” Hal¬ 
lelujah! All who live in sin are slaves to their 
own lusts, are not able to govern themselves; 
but salvation makes us “kings” in ruling over 
our own selves, over our own passions, appetites, 
and desires. Paul says, “I keep under my 
body.” “He that ruleth his spirit [is greater] 
than he that taketh a city” (Prov. 16:32). Sal¬ 
vation places us in kingly triumph over all the 
elements of the world—over sin, fashion, and 
popular sentiment. “Whatsoever is born of God 
overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4). And not 
only this, but, thank God, right now in this dis¬ 
pensation we reign over Satan himself, who 
claims to be ruler of the earth: “Behold, I give 
unto you power . . . over all the power of 

the enemy” (Luke 10:19). 


REIGN OF SAINTS ON EARTH 


145 


We have something better than the millen- 
nialists are even looking for in their fancied age 
to come. They expect to reign over Satan when, 
as they say, he will be cast into a great pit and 
bound with a mighty chain, so that he can not 
harm any one: that certainly would be a very 
easy thing and nothing to boast of. Thank 
God, we have something better than that; right 
now, while Satan is loose, going about as a 
roaring lion, “seeking whom he may devour,” 
we have power over him, yea, reign over him. 
In the name of Jesus Christ every demon in hell 
is subject to the saints of God. We reign over 
sin. Sin held the whole human family under its 
dominion for thousands of years, but now, in 
the Christian era “sin shall not have dominion 
over you: for ye are not under the law, but 
under grace.” Yes, we reign over sin. The 
truly saved now possess the very things that 
formalists are looking for in the future. “Now 
being made free from sin, and become servants 
to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness” (Rom. 
6:22). A master of the situation of life, with 
a peace that nothing disturbs—this is now real¬ 
ized in the kingdom of God. Well hath the poet 
said: 


146 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


“One we hail as King immortal, 

He did earth and hell subdue; 

And bequeathing us his glory, 

We are kings anointed too. 

“Shall we, then, by sin be humbled? 
Must we yield to any foe? 

No, by heaven’s gift we’re reigning 
Over all this world below. 

‘ * Oh, what grace and high promotion, 
That in Jesus I should be 

Raised from sin to royal honor, 

Even reigning, Lord, with thee! 

‘‘All this life is blissful sunshine, 
Earth is subject at our feet; 

Heaven pours its richest blessings 
Round our throne of love complete. 

‘ ‘ I am reigning, sweetly reigning, 

Far above this world of strife; 

In my blessed, loving Savior, 

I am reigning in this life.” 


TWO PERIODS OF REIGNING PROPHESIED 

In order to fully understand the kingdom of 
God, in all its phases, it will be necessary to note 
the perpetuity of the reign of God’s people as 
portrayed in prophecy and revelation. The 
everlasting kingdom of God, established by Je- 



REIGNING PROPHESIED 


147 


sus Christ, is not altogether confined to this 
earth. The kingdom of grace here and the king¬ 
dom of glory above form the endless government 
of Christ and reign of God’s people. This reign 
begins the moment an individual is saved 
through the blood of the Lamb, and will con¬ 
tinue to all eternity; for of God’s saints it is 
said, “They shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 
22:5). Therefore, in reality, if the reign of 
God’s saints on earth ceased for a time, during 
the apostasy, it continued right on without in¬ 
terruption by that mighty host in paradise, who 
formed a part of the same church and kingdom. 
This truth will be clearly brought out in this 
and the following chapter. 

The triumph of primitive Christianity is por¬ 
trayed in prophecy as a glbrious reign of the 
saints on earth. As already seen in Daniel, the 
stone “smote the great image upon his feet that 
were of iron, and clay, and broke them to pieces. 
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the sil¬ 
ver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and 
became like the chaff of the summer threshing- 
floors” (Dan. 2: 34, 35). This was interpreted 
by Daniel as follows: “In the days of these 
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, 
which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom 


148 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


shall not be left to other people, but it shall 
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, 
and it shall stand forever” (Dan. 2: 44). Here 
we have clearly set forth the triumph of Christ’s 
kingdom and the victory enjoyed by God’s 
saints in the beginning of the Christian era; a 
triumph over paganism and all the systems of 
false religions then extant. This phase of the 
kingdom is identical with the church of God; a 
visible working-force in the world. And in this 
organic form, the kingdom of God shone forth 
gloriously in the morning of this dispensation. 
The entire church was declared to be “a royal 
priesthood,” or a priesthood of kings. They 
were kings and priests unto God, and did reign 
on the earth. 

In the preceding chapter, we beheld a glo¬ 
rious triumph in the great conflict between 
Christianity and paganism under the Roman 
government, as portrayed in the symbols given 
in Revelation 12. The triumphant host of God’s 
people cried with a loud voice, “Now is come 
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of 
our God, and the power of his Christ: for the 
accuser of our brethren is cast down.” “And 
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, 
and by the word of their testimony.” This was 


REIGNING PROPHESIED 


149 


a reign of holiness through the abundant grace 
of God. 

This great rejoicing of the early church 
was because “the accuser of the brethren which 
accused them . . . day and night,” “was 

cast down.” Whenever famine, pestilence, or 
any other calamity befell the pagans, they 
blamed the Christians. If a fire broke out in 
their city, the responsibility was laid on the 
Christians, and they were slaughtered by the 
thousand. No wonder there was a shout of 
joy when that power was broken. 

I quote from Butler’s Ecclesiastical History, 
p. 40: “The final victory of Christianity over 
Heathenism and Judaism, and the Mightiest 
Empire of the Ancient World, a victory gained 
without physical force, by the moral power of 
patience and perseverance, of faith and love, is 
one of the sublimest spectacles of history, and 
one of the strongest evidences of the divinity 
and indestructible life of our holy religion.” 

Tertullian, who wrote about the end of the 
second century, says in his Apology, “We are 
a people of yesterday, and yet we have filled 
every place belonging to you [the Pagans]— 
cities, islands, castles, towns, assemblies, your 
very camp, your tribes, companies, palace, sen- 


150 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


ate, and forum. We leave to you your temples 
alone. We can count your armies: our num¬ 
bers in a single province will be greater. We 
have it in our power, without arms and without 
rebellion, to fight against you with the weapon 
of a simple divorce. We can leave you to wage 
your wars alone. If such a multitude should 
withdraw into some remote corner of the world, 
you would doubtless tremble at your own sol¬ 
itude, and ask, ‘Of whom are we the governors ?’ 

. . . . Your cruelty avails you nothing. . . . 
The oftener you mow us down, the more in num¬ 
ber we grow; the blood of Christians is seed. 
What you call our obstinacy is an instructor. 
For who that sees it does not inquire for what 
we suffer? Who that inquires does not embrace 
our doctrines? Who that embraces them is not 
ready to give his blood for the fullness of God’s 
grace?” 

The mighty host of redeemed saints who con¬ 
stituted the church in her pristine glory were 
possessors of true holiness, raised up to heaven¬ 
ly places in Christ Jesus. This triumphant 
reign is expressed by the apostle Paul as fol¬ 
lows : “Now thanks be unto God, which always 
causeth us to triumph in Christ” (2 Cor. 2:14) ; 
“Nay, in all these things we are more than con- 


REIGNING PROPHESIED 


151 


querors, through him that loved us” (Rom. 8: 
37) ; “And now being made free from sin, and 
become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto 
holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Rom. 
6: 22). This experience of entire freedom from 
sin and the possession of God’s own holiness, 
gave to the primitive saints victory over heath¬ 
enism, over Satan himself, over all sin and in¬ 
iquity, over the flesh, and over the world. It 
was a glorious triumph enjoyed by the mighty 
host who were thus redeemed through the blood 
of Jesus Christ. 

But at a very early date the truth of God 
was largely lost sight of. The primitive glory 
began to fade, and holiness was lost by the 
church. This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 
“The people of thy holiness have possessed it 
but a little while: our adversaries have trodden 
down thy sanctuary” (Isa. 63:18). The “lit¬ 
tle while” in which God’s people were to pos¬ 
sess true holiness was the early morning of the 
Christian era. Had the church always retained 
holiness, there would never have been an apos¬ 
tasy; but by descending from this lofty plane, 
she opened the way for every species of false 
doctrine and error. The result was that the 
enemies of truth trod down the sanctuary—the 


152 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


church. These were the very false teachers that 
Jesus said would come. “Her priests polluted 
the sanctuary,” and the result was, “a filthy 
and polluted” city (Zeph. 3: 1-4). 

D’Aubigne, in his History of the Reforma¬ 
tion, says, “The living church retiring grad¬ 
ually within the lonely sanctuary of a few 
solitary hearts, an external church was sub¬ 
stituted in its place.” God made his church in 
the beginning “a praise in the earth”; or, as 
the apostle says, “to the praise of the glory of 
his grace.” But by the coming in of the great 
apostasy, the church was robbed of her glory, 
and a dead, external, counterfeit church was 
substituted. The great beast power of apostate 
churches and man-rule exercised dominion, and 
the kingdom of God, as represented in the or¬ 
ganic form of the Christian church, was crushed 
under human rule and power. Thus the reign 
of God’s saints on earth, in this particular sense, 
largely ceased. 

Daniel foretold this time thus: “I beheld, 
and the same horn [popery] made war with the 
saints, and prevailed against them” (Dan. 7: 
21). But thank God, this condition of affairs 
was not always to continue. In the seventh 
chapter of Daniel it is clearly shown that the 


REIGNING PROPHESIED 


158 


reign of God’s people on earth is divided into 
two distinct periods. Here is recorded a vision 
of four great beasts symbolizing the Babylon¬ 
ian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman Em¬ 
pires. Verse 18 connected with Dan. 2: 31-44 
(already given in this chapter) shows that the 
saints were to possess the kingdom of God be¬ 
fore the overthrow of these four kingdoms, 
which was fulfilled, as we have seen, by the es¬ 
tablishment of Christianity by Christ during 
the reign of the Roman Empire. 

Then follows a description of the rise of the 
papacy which was to “wear out the saints of the 
Most High” for a period of twelve hundred and 
sixty years (vs. 19, 25). During this period 
the public reign of the saints on earth largely 
ceases. But it was foreseen that the time would 
come when “judgment was given to the saints of 
the Most High,” and “the time came that the 
saints possessed the kingdom” (v. 22). “But 
the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away 
his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto 
the end . And the kingdom and dominion, and 
the greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints 
of the Most High, whose kingdom is an ever¬ 
lasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve 


154 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


and obey him” (vs. 26, 27). This does not refer 
to the final judgment; but is a spiritual judg¬ 
ment that commences before that time and 
continues “unto the end” This work, no doubt, 
began in the spiritual reformations during the 
Protestant era, when, from time to time, judg¬ 
ment was executed against the beast power which 
had for ages “worn out the saints of the Most 
High” 

Since the time the Reformation began, the 
resurrecting grace of God has been in action, 
and thousands and millions have been raised up 
from a sinful state to life in Christ. With the 
restoration of the pure church of God in all 
its primitive glory in the evening light of this 
dispensation, judgment is going forth against 
all the false religions of earth. Holiness is re¬ 
stored and possessed by the saints the same as 
in primitive times. Thus the reign of God’s 
saints on earth is restored. It was after the 
reign of the little horn (popery), and the great 
apostasy, that the saints possessed the kingdom, 
even “the greatness of the kingdom under the 
whole heaven.” 

Thank God, we have reached that time! As 
seen in the preceding chapter, this reign of 
God’s saints in the evening of the gospel dis- 


THOUSAND YEARS’ REIGN 


155 


pensation is clearly portrayed in Rev. 15:2, 3. 
The entire host of saints stands upon the sea 
of glass, with victory over the beast, his image, 
and the number of his name, a victory which 
signifies triumph over all false and corrupt re¬ 
ligions of earth. With the restoration of pure 
holiness, God’s saints are again enabled to reign 
in life right here upon earth. So at both the 
beginning and the end of the great apostasy 
there is a glorious reign of righteousness and 
holiness enjoyed by the saints on earth. 


THE THOUSAND YEARS’ REIGN WITH CHRIST 

In Revelation 12, the church is set forth 
under the double symbol of a woman and her 
son, in order to show two phases of her ex¬ 
istence during the apostasy. It will be seen 
that the woman brought forth a man-child who 
was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; let 
us consider this woman as presented in the 
symbol. 

She represents the church of God, the bride 
of Christ, in her primitive unity and purity. 
The blessed union which exists between Christ 
and his people is expressed by the term “mar- 



156 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


riage.” This is true both of our present spir¬ 
itual union with Christ and of our future, eter¬ 
nal union with him. The whole church is in 
Scripture termed “the Lamb’s wife,” “the bride 
of Christ,” etc. She was “clothed with the sun” 
—a striking emblem of Jesus Christ, the “Sun 
of righteousness,” the light and glory of the 
church. The church was clothed with his right¬ 
eousness, which is represented in the same apoc¬ 
alypse by “pure linen, clean and white” (Rev. 
19:8). She was clothed with his holiness, with 
the beautiful garments of salvation. The re¬ 
sult was that she was a pure church. 

“And upon her head a crown.” Ah! she sat 
a queen. Her husband, the glorious Lord, is 
the king of heaven—“King of kings, and Lord 
of lords.” He ascended on high, “crowned with 
glory and honor,” and now reigns a monarch 
over earth and sky. His wife—the church— 
shares this royal honor. With the same glory 
that the Father crowned him, he crowned her. 
“And the glory which thou gavest me, I have 
given them.” She shares his reign in the king¬ 
dom of peace. He testifies, “I have overcome 
the world”; and we read that “whatsoever is 
born of God, overcometh the world.” 

The twelve stars in her crown represent the 


THOUSAND YEARS’ REIGN 


157 


twelve apostles of the Lamb. These adorn her 
fair brow. Her travail in birth and pain to be 
delivered represent the earnest labor of the 
early church for the salvation of the world. 
Like a true wife, the church joined heart and 
soul with Christ in the great cause which drew 
him to earth. The whole church is a unit, made 
up of “workers together with God” in the sal¬ 
vation of lost souls. Both “the Spirit and the 
bride say, Come.” “As soon as Zion travailed, 
she brought forth her children.” 

It is said “she brought forth a man-child who 
was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” 
The question before us is, What does this man- 
child represent? Some have supposed that it 
refers to Christ; but for the following reasons 
it can not: The woman here referred to is the 
New Testament church. The church labors and 
pains to be delivered and suddenly brings forth 
this child. Christ is not a child of the church of 
God. She is not his mother. Really, he is her 
founder, her husband. The prophet calls him 
“the everlasting Father.” Since this child can 
not refer to Christ, we shall clearly prove that 
it refers to the great and mighty host of chil¬ 
dren brought forth by the pristine church. 


158 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


This man-child is clearly defined in the 
prophecy of Isaiah as follows: “Before she trav¬ 
ailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, 
she was delivered of a man-child. Who hath 
heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? 
Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one 
day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as 
soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her 
children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not 
cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I 
cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith 
thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be 
glad with her, all we that love her: rejoice for 
joy with her, all ye that mourn for her; that ye 
may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of 
her consolation; that ye may milk out, and be 
delighted with the abundance of her glory. For 
thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace 
to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles 
like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall 
be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon 
her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, 
so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted 
in Jerusalem” (Isa. 66:7-13). 

The man-child portra} T ed in Isaiah’s proph¬ 
ecy is the same man-child seen in Revelation 12. 
Isaiah and Revelation both declare this to be 


THOUSAND YEARS’ REIGN 


159 


“a nation born at once,” “in one day.” “She 
[Zion] was delivered of a man-child.” In sur¬ 
prize the prophet exclaims: “Who hath heard 
of such a thing? Who hath seen such things? 
Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one 
day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as 
soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her 
children.” This is clear. A nation of children, 
born suddenly, constitutes the man-child. He 
was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. This 
child ‘sucks the breast of her consolations, and 
milks out, and is delighted with the abundance 
of her glory’; ‘is borne upon her sides, and 
dandled upon her knees.’ To what does this 
refer but to new-born babes, who desire the sin¬ 
cere milk of the word, that they may grow 
thereby (1 Pet. 2:2)? Paul said to some of 
these “babes in Christ,” “I have fed you with 
milk” (1 Cor. 3: 1-3). Was not this fulfilled in 
the early church? While Zion was in travail 
in an upper room in Jerusalem, she suddenly 
brought forth, and a nation of three thousand 
children was born into the family in one day. 
In a few days the number of children increased 
to about ten thousand. It was but a little while 
till the number increased to hundreds of thou¬ 
sands. 


100 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


It will be observed in Eph. 2:15 that the host 
of Jews and Gentiles born into the church of 
God, made one in his blood, and reconciled unto 
God in one body, constitute “one new man” It 
may be objected that this child was to rule the 
nations. This is the same as Daniel prophesied, 
namely: “The kingdom and dominion, and the 
greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints 
of the Most High” (Dan. 7:27). And in Rev. 
2: 26, 27, it is said, “He that overcometh . . . 
to him will I give power over the nations, and 
he shall rule them with a rod of iron.” “What¬ 
soever is born of God overcometh the world: 
and this is the victory that overcometh the 
world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). This 
represents the glorious triumph of the early 
church. The breaking of the nations into shiv¬ 
ers and the ruling of them with a rod of iron, 
is the same as the stone of Daniel 2 breaking in 
pieces and consuming the brass, iron, silver, and 
gold, until no place is found for them. It was 
the iron rod of the gospel that broke them in 
pieces. In Rev. 12: 17 reference is made to the 
“remnant of the woman’s seed,” which proves 
that the man-child was not a single personage. 

Next is seen a “great red dragon, having 


THOUSAND YEARS’ REIGN 


161 


seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns 
upon his heads,” standing before the woman to 
“devour her child as soon as it was born.” How 
true was the fulfilment! This dragon repre¬ 
sented pagan Rome, and just as fast as men ac¬ 
cepted the Christian faith, the pagans were 
ready to devour them. Such were the bloody 
days of the church under the heathen Roman 
Empire. But Christianity spread so rapidly 
and the gospel had such a crushing effect that 
paganism finally tottered and fell. 

But what became of that holy nation, the 
triumphant throng, and great host of saints 
who were marching onward victorious over 
every foe? They suddenly disappeared from 
the earth. “The child was caught up unto God, 
and to his throne”—ascended to paradise— 
while darkness, superstition, and iniquity 
flooded the earth. The brilliant light of Chris¬ 
tianity was eclipsed by the darkness of apos¬ 
tasy. “The woman fled into the wilderness.” 
Here the reader will see the wisdom and neces¬ 
sity of a double symbol, a woman and her son, 
which was chosen to set forth two phases of the 
church. 

In Revelation 17, a double symbol; namely, 
a vile woman and her daughters, is chosen to 


162 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


symbolize two distinct phases of the apostasy. 
So with the church. If but a single symbol 
were used, how could the church thereby be rep¬ 
resented as continuing on earth and fleeing into 
the wilderness, and at the same time be repre¬ 
sented as overcome, persecuted to death, and 
caught up unto God, and to his throne? 

The phase represented by the man-child, who 
was caught up unto God, is that phase of the 
church which was cut off from the earth through 
martyrdom and persecution. The phase rep¬ 
resented by the woman who fled into the wilder¬ 
ness is that phase of the church which con¬ 
tinued on earth but was hidden in the great 
apostasy. This part in the wilderness was 
crushed under human authority. The beast’s 
power ruled, and this was the period when the 
reign of God’s people on earth largely ceased. 

Now, for a few moments, we shall drop that 
phase of the church which went into the wilder¬ 
ness of apostasy, and follow the man-child, or 
mighty host of martyrs who were caught up 
unto paradise. “And I saw thrones, and they 
sat upon them, and judgment was given unto 
them: and I saw the souls of them that were 
beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the 
^ord of God, and which had not worshiped the 


THOUSAND YEARS’ REIGN 


163 


beast, neither his image, neither had received 
his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; 
and they lived and reigned with Christ a thou¬ 
sand years. Blessed and holy is he that hath 
part in the first resurrection: on such the sec¬ 
ond death hath no power, but they shall be 
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign 
with him a thousand years” (Rev. 20: 4, 5). 

Notice, that it was the “souls” of them that 
were beheaded for the witness of Jesus that 
reigned with Christ. These were disembodied 
spirits that had had part in the first resurrec¬ 
tion. This first resurrection is not a literal 
one, but is a resurrection, by the power of God, 
from a dead state in sin to life in Jesus Christ. 
Paul speaks of this in his Ephesian letter: “And 
you hath he quickened who were dead in tres¬ 
passes and sins . . . and hath raised us up 
together”; also, “Awake thou that sleepest, and 
arise from the dead.” To this John adds his 
beautiful testimony—“We know that we have 
passed from death unto life, because we love 
the brethren” (1 John 3:14). The expression 
“the first resurrection,” of Revelation 20, may 
have a specific or local meaning created by the 
context, referring to the exaltation of the mar¬ 
tyrs—those who were slain for Christ’s sake 


164 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


were caught up to God and to his throne. These 
souls had taken part in the spiritual resurrec¬ 
tion while they were on earth and were blessed 
and holy—had been raised up to the high plane 
of holiness—and because of their trueness to 
God they “were beheaded for the witness of 
Jesus,” after which they ascended into para¬ 
dise, where we see them reigning with Christ. 
Not a word is said about people’s being literally 
resurrected and reigning on the earth. This 
reign wa5 before the resurrection of the literal 
dead, for the resurrection of these does not take 
place until after the one thousand years, and it 
includes both good and bad; for some are found 
written in the book of life and some are not 
(see vs. 11, 15). 

It is clearly evident that there is no reign on 
earth mentioned here at all; the reign was with 
Christ. This beautifully harmonizes with Paul’s 
statement, “I am in a strait betwixt two, having 
a desire to depart and be with Christ; which is 
far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is 
more needful for you” (Phil. 1: 23, 24). 

These same souls are brought to view in Rev. 
6:9-11, and here it will be clearly seen that 
they were not literally resurrected and were not 
reigning on the earth at all. “And when he had 


THOUSAND YEARS’ REIGN 


165 


opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the 
souls of them that were slain for the word of 
God, and for the testimony which they held: and 
they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, 
O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and 
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the 
earth? And white robes were given unto every 
one of them: and it was said unto them that they 
should rest yet for a little season, until their 
fellow servants also and their brethren, that 
should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” 
In these texts, we again see the same persons 
symbolized by the man-child of chapter 12. 
They were souls in a disembodied state. They 
were not on the earth, but they were in a state 
of “rest” with Christ. These scriptures con¬ 
sidered together blend harmoniously. First, 
the church reigns publicly on the earth, but 
this phase is cut off, by the apostasy on the one 
hand and by the persecutions of the beast on 
the other; and being thus interrupted on the 
earth, the scene suddenly changes to the realm 
of paradise, and we behold the souls of martyrs 
reigning there. They “rest” while they “reign 
with Christ,” and they “wait” for the end of 
that earthly reign of tyranny and usurpation in 


166 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


which, their “fellow servants also and their 
brethren” shall be killed as they were. 

The special time which this reign in paradise 
brings to our view is that period during which 
God’s people on earth were martyred for the 
testimony of Jesus. At the end of this period, 
as we have already noticed, the scene is again 
laid upon earth, and the triumph of the church 
and the spiritual reign of the kingdom is again 
manifested. But as the public reign of the apos¬ 
tolic church ceased gradually, and as its restor¬ 
ation in the last days also takes place gradually, 
no exact dates for this phase of the subject can 
be given; therefore, the indefinite period of time 
that elapsed between the two is simply stated 
by the term, “a thousand years.” This is not 
literally a thousand years, for that would be 
less than the reign of the papacy, which was 
twelve hundred and sixty years; moreover, the 
period under consideration not only covers that 
period, but also extends into the Protestant era; 
for Protestantism also martyred some of God’s 
witnesses during its earlier days. In fact, all 
the time periods mentioned in the Revelation are 
symbolic, not literal. If a literal period of a 
thousand years had been meant, the prediction 
would probably have said a thousand days; just 


THOUSAND YEARS’ REIGN 


167 


as the twelve hundred and sixty years was sym¬ 
bolic by “a thousand two hundred and three¬ 
score days.” 

First, we see a glorious reign on earth in the 
beginning of the Christian era. Next, the long 
reign of apostasy, when the public reign of 
God’s people on earth ceases. But during that 
long period, symbolicly termed a thousand 
years, the reign goes on in paradise, by the souls 
of those who had taken part in the great spiri¬ 
tual resurrection, and had reigned on earth, 
millions of whom were martyred for the witness 
of Jesus and the testimony which they held. 
Thus the scene of reigning was for this long 
period of time transferred from earth to heav¬ 
en; but at the end of this time the saints again 
possess the kingdom: and in the closing days of 
the Christian dispensation, God’s people enjoy a 
reign of righteousness on earth again. The idea 
is not that those souls in paradise reign merely 
a thousand years, for they shall reign forever 
and ever; but the truth intended is that during 
the great apostasy, the time when the beast and 
image would reign on earth and have the domin¬ 
ion, the endless reign of Christ in his saints 
would go on uninterrupted. How fittingly the 
language of Dr. Clark, already quoted, applies 


168 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


on this particular point: “The kingdom of 
grace here, and the kingdom of glory above, 
form the endless government of Christ.” 


DIFFERENT PHASES OF THE KINGDOM 
EXPLAINED 

In order to obtain a correct understanding 
of the teachings of the Bible relative to the king¬ 
dom of heaven, it is necessary to understand it 
as set forth in its different phases. Most all 
Bible truth is set forth by different figures, and 
if it were not for the direction and guidings of 
the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures would certainly 
present a mass of incomprehensible enigmas. 

Christ is represented by the figure of a 
“lamb” and a “lion,” two very opposite natures. 
His mission was to bring “peace on earth,” and 
yet he says, “I am not come to bring peace, but 
rather division.” In Isa. 2:4 it is said of his 
kingdom, “They shall beat their swords into 
plowshares, and their spears into pruning- 
hooks.” “And neither shall they learn war any 
more”; while in Joel 3: 10, speaking of the same 
kingdom, it is said, “Beat your plowshares into 
swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears.” 



PHASES OF THE KINGDOM 


169 


“Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all 
the men of war draw near” (v. 9). 

These directly opposite statements, when 
properly understood, simply present different 
phases in the nature of the Lord’s work. So 
with the general teaching relative to the king¬ 
dom of God. When properly understood there 
is no confliction, but beautiful harmony through¬ 
out. For example: In many texts it is said 
that the kingdom which Christ was to establish 
would be an “everlasting kingdom.” “And he 
shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and 
of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Then 
in 1 Corinthians 15 it is said that following the 
resurrection and general judgment “Christ will 
deliver up the kingdom to the Father.” The 
first have direct reference to the endless reign 
of Christ and the saints, which began during 
Christ’s personal ministry on earth in the sal¬ 
vation of men and women from sin in the pres¬ 
ent kingdom of grace on earth, and will be con¬ 
tinued in the eternal kingdom of glory above. 
For in this sense the kingdom of grace here— 
present—and the kingdom of glory above— 
future—form the endless government of Christ 
and the endless reign of his saints. The latter 
text has direct reference to that phase of the 


170 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


kingdom which refers exclusively to Christ’s 
redemptive reign for the salvation of a lost 
world; therefore, there is no confliction between 
these texts. 

Again, the kingdom of heaven is a doctrine. 
The entire message of the gospel is “preach¬ 
ing the things concerning the kingdom of God” 
(Acts 8:12). “The kingdom of God is preached 
and every man presseth into it” (Luke 16: 16). 
“Go thou and preach the kingdom of God” 
(Luke 9:60). Many other similar texts could 
be given which show that the kingdom of God 
is expressed by the gospel in such a manner that 
the preaching of the gospel is said to be the 
preaching of the kingdom of God. 

The work of salvation in the human heart 
is in many scriptures called the kingdom of God 
and the kingdom of heaven. I will give but a 
few texts out of many. “But seek ye first the 
kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt. 
6:33). “The kingdom of God is preached and 
every man pressetli into if* (Luke 16:16). 
“The kingdom of God cometh not with observa¬ 
tion; neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo 
there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within 
you” (Luke 17:20, 21). It was in this sense 
that John testified that he was “in the kingdom 


PHASES OF THE KINGDOM 


171 


and patience of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:9). And 
Paul declared (Col. 1: 13) that the Lord “hath 
delivered us from the power of darkness and 
hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear 
Son.” And again, “The kingdom of God is not 
meat and drink; but righteousness , and peace , 
and joy , in the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 14:17). 

Of course, this phase of the kingdom is in¬ 
visible because it is the internal work of the 
Holy Spirit and “cometh not with observation.” 
But in speaking of that phase of the kingdom 
which is identical with the church of God as a 
visible working-force in the world, which was 
fully organized and established on the day of 
Pentecost, and there dedicated by a most won¬ 
derful outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Christ 
said to his apostles, “I tell you of a truth, 
there be some standing here, which shall not 
taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God” 
(Luke 9:27). “Verily I say unto you, That 
there be some of them that stand here, which 
shall not taste of death, till they have seen the 
kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9: 1). 
Here a distinct phase of the kingdom is brought 
out; namely, its identity with the visible or¬ 
ganization of the New Testament church: and 
when thus understood, it will be easily seen that 


172 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


there is no confliction between those texts 
which speak of it as invisible and those which 
speak of it as a visible working-force. 

In speaking of Christ’s kingdom and reign 
relative to the work of grace and salvation 
through the gospel, to be accomplished in the 
hearts of men during his incarnation on earth; 
and even from the days of John the Baptist, 
when the gospel of the kingdom began to be 
preached; it is said that people entered in and 
enjoyed the blessings and favors of the kingdom 
of heaven. 

But there is another distinct phase that must 
be understood in order to harmonize all the 
facts. This is the universal phase. It would 
appear from Heb. 2: 9 that when Christ ascend¬ 
ed into heaven, he was then “crowned with glory 
and honor.” Not only crowned a king to reign 
in the hearts of his people here on earth, but 
crowned “King of kings and Lord of lords.” 
“Prince of the kings of the earth.” Christ is 
now universal King—Lord of heaven and earth. 
Peter in describing this universal phase of 
Christ’s reign and kingdom, says, “Who is gone 
into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; 
angels and authorities and powers being made 
subject unto him” (1 Pet. 3: 22). Paul speaks 


PHASES OF THE KINGDOM 


173 


of this universal phase of the kingdom in the 
following language: “Which he wrought in 
Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and 
set him at his own right hand in the heavenly 
places, far above all principality, and power, 
and might, and dominion, and every name that 
is named, not only in this world, but also in that 
which is to come; and hath put all things under 
his feet, and gave him to be head over all things” 
(Eph. 1:20-22). 

From this we see that the whole earth and 
universe is his kingdom. Therefore all sinners 
and evil men are now in his (universal) kingdom, 
but they exist as rebels against his throne, do¬ 
minion, and authority. But this condition of 
things will not always continue. Christ will not 
always endure in his universal kingdom those 
who rebel against his law. Therefore at his 
second coming, “the Son of man shall send forth 
his angels, and they shall gather out of his 
kingdom all things that offend, and them which 
do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace 
of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of 
teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as 
the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 
13: 41-43). This has reference to the final day 
of judgment, when the wicked will be banished 


174 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


forever from the universe of God’s dwelling, and 
the whole domain of God will be occupied by 
the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is 
an everlasting kingdom; and “all dominions 
shall serve and obey him.” Then the righteous 
shall have an abundant entrance “into the ever¬ 
lasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
Christ” (2 Pet. 1:11). 

It is with reference to this universal phase 
of Christ’s kingdom that Jesus spoke the par¬ 
able recorded in Luke 19: 12-27. Here, “a cer¬ 
tain nobleman went into a far country to re¬ 
ceive for himself a kingdom.” Certain ones 
hated him saying, “We will not have this man 
to reign over us.” After a time the nobleman 
returned, having received the kingdom, and he 
then rewarded the faithful and punished the 
rebels. The application of the parable is as 
follows: Christ ascended into heaven—the far 
country; there he received the kingdom, or there 
was given to him glory and dominion and power 
over all heaven and earth. His faithful servants 
on earth are the saved, or the church of God. 
Those who said “we will not have him to reign 
over us” are the ungodly who rebel against his 
authority and throne. His coming will be the 
second advent and the great day of judgment, 


LION AND THE LAMB 


175 


at which time he will reward the righteous and 
punish the wicked. 

Thus, we might go through all the different 
phases of the kingdom as presented in the 
Scriptures and find that when they are properly 
understood there is a beautiful harmony 
throughout, and that the very texts relied upon 
by millennial teachers for a future literal king¬ 
dom simply refer to some distinct phase of the 
glorious kingdom of Christ, established and in 
existence during the Christian dispensation. 


THE LION AND THE LAMB SHALL FEED 
TOGETHER 

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and 
the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the 
calf and the young lion and the fatling together; 
and a little child shall lead them. And the cow 
and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall 
lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw 
like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on 
the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall 
put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall 
not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: 
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of 



176 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 
11:6-9). “The wolf and the lamb shall feed 
together, and the lion shall eat straw like the 
bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. 
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy 
mountain, saith the Lord” (Isa. 65:25). 

These texts are used by many as descriptive 
of the happy state of things during the sup¬ 
posed millennium. It is believed that there will 
be a literal fulfilment of the prophet’s picture 
here given. Some with whom I have conversed 
say that the fire spoken of in Second Peter will 
burn over all the earth, consuming its works and 
all the present state of things, restoring it back 
to the Edenic state. After this the millennium 
will take place, at which time all the wild animals 
will be tame and the prophet’s prediction will 
literally come true. I asked one of these teach¬ 
ers what would become of the animals while the 
judgment fires were sweeping over the earth, 
burning up everything therein. I stated that 
either the animals must be burned up and after¬ 
wards resurrected, or else they must be trans¬ 
lated and held somewhere in mid-heaven until 
after the purifying and consuming fire had 
swept over the earth. He replied, “Well, the 
Lord can do either.” Such betrays the utter 


LION AND THE LAMB 


177 


blindness of men, and the desperate straits they 
are driven to, when they endeavor to uphold a 
wrong doctrine. 

A careful study of Isaiah 11 clearly shows 
that the first advent of Christ and the blessings 
of his kingdom during the Christian era are re¬ 
ferred to. “And there shall come forth a rod 
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall 
grow out of his roots.” This refers to the com¬ 
ing of Messiah, who was “the root and offspring 
of David.” Verses 1-5 refer directly to Messiah 
and his work. Then follows the foregoing lan¬ 
guage concerning the animals (vs. 6-9). And in 
verse 10 we read, “In that day there shall be 
a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign 
of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and 
his rest shall be glorious.” In Rom. 15:12 Paul 
quotes this identical prophecy and applies it 
to the Christian dispensation. It refers to the 
Gentiles’ seeking Christ and entering into his 
rest. 

In foretelling the work of Messiah and the 
blessings of his kingdom during the Christian 
dispensation, the prophets with one accord em¬ 
ployed figurative language. The various ani¬ 
mals are used in the Word of God to represent 
different characters of men. For example; Jesus 


178 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


said to his disciples, “Be ye therefore wise as 
serpents, and harmless as doves.” To Peter he 
said, “Feed my lambs.” Concerning Herod, he 
said, “Go ye, and tell that fox” (Luke 13:32). 
False teachers are compared to “ravenous 
wolves” and “grievous wolves” (Matt. 7:15, 
Acts 20:29). Paul said, “Beware of dogs” 
(Phil. 3:2). Speaking of the characters of 
the damned, it is said, “Without are dogs” 
(Rev. 22:15). Hypocritical professors are 
called “serpents” and “generation of vipers.” 
In Matthew 25, God’s people are called “sheep,” 
and the unsaved “goats.” So in Ezekiel 34 
God’s people are compared to “sheep,” “fat 
cattle,” etc. This is the sense in which 
we are to understand Isa. 11: 6-9 and Isa. 65: 
25. It teaches how the grace of God in this 
glorious dispensation would destroy the ser¬ 
pent-like, devouring natures of men, and make 
the most lion-hearted sinners, the most ferocious 
characters, docile and harmless; even so meek 
that a “little child” can teach and lead them. 
It also teaches the glorious love and unity that 
exists among the redeemed in God’s kingdom, 
where there is no wrangling, backbiting, deceit, 
or devouring one another; but peace which noth¬ 
ing offends, and where all are helpers of each 


LION AND THE LAMB 


179 


other’s joy, workers together. And the prophet 
adds: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all 
my holy mountain.” Instead of this state of 
things existing in the literal, natural world, it 
is a description of the happy condition of the 
people of God in his holy mount; and this moun¬ 
tain is none other than the church of God. All 
in this fold are harmless as doves. In the 35th 
chapter of Isaiah the prophet, speaking of the 
highway of holiness upon which the redeemed in 
this gospel dispensation were to walk, says, “No 
lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall 
go up thereon, it shall not be found there” 
(vs. 8,9). 

It is very clear that the animals were used 
to represent the beastly natures of men, which 
are destroyed in holiness; and also that no fe¬ 
rocious character is on the way to heaven. Sure¬ 
ly literal wild animals can not walk on a spiri¬ 
tual way, the road to heaven, which is the high¬ 
way of holiness. Here again we see that the 
very things people expect to realize in some 
future time are now realized and enjoyed by the 
saints in light. 


180 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


THERE SHALL BE NO MORE AN INFANT 
OF DAYS 

“There shall be no more thence an infant of 
days, nor an old man that hath not filled his 
days: for the child shall die an hundred years 
old; but the sinner being an hundred years old 
shall be accursed” (Isa. 65: 20). 

The basis for a correct understanding of this 
peculiar text lies in the context—in the general 
setting in which it is placed. The last twenty- 
seven chapters of Isaiah are a most remarkable 
production, constituting a grand Messianic 
poem in which the complete character, work, 
and career of the Son of God are set forth in 
his three-fold office as prophet, priest, and king. 
While the design of this prophecy is to show the 
propitious nature of God’s plan of salvation, the 
result of neglecting it is set forth in a twice- 
repeated strain—“There is no peace, saith my 
God, unto the wicked” (Chaps. 48: 22; 57: 21) ; 
and at the close, in more terrible words— 
“Where their worm shall not die, neither shall 
their fire be quenched” (66:24); thus divid¬ 
ing the Messianic poem into three equal cantos, 
or sections. In the very center of the middle 


NO MORE INFANT OF DAYS 


181 


canto (chap. 53) we find the vicarious atone¬ 
ment of Christ as the grand center around 
which all else radiates. This is the central 
theme both of prophecy and of history. 

Clustered around this central point we find 
many other glories, chief of which is the pros¬ 
perity of Zion, the church of the living God. 
But the language of this prophecy, being writ¬ 
ten in the legal dispensation, is based entirely 
on the conditions, practises, customs, and insti¬ 
tutions of that age, and is evidently intended 
merely to set forth, by way of comparison, cer¬ 
tain facts and truths in the analagous depart¬ 
ment of the church—God’s true people. There 
is no mistaking the time of the fulfilment of 
these things, for it begins with the appearing of 
God’s “righteous Servant” and continues ever 
afterward. The rebelliousness and hardheart¬ 
edness of literal Israel, and their rejection by 
God in order to make way for the introduction 
of the heavenly message to the Gentiles, are 
clearly described, even in the chapter contain¬ 
ing the special verse now under consideration 
(see Isa. 65: 1, 2), and is thus quoted and ap¬ 
plied by the apostle Paul in Rom. 10:20, 21, 
thus establishing the point of time , fixing it in 
the gospel dispensation. 


182 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


Now, literal Israel was the people of God, 
and when they were obedient God gave them 
abundant prosperity in a natural way; there¬ 
fore the actual description of this literal pros 
perity is given to represent in a figurative sense 
the spiritual prosperity of Zion. I will prove 
this statement by briefly referring to a few of 
the evidences only. Chapter 59 closes with the 
first coming of Christ as the Redeemer, and 
chapter 60 opens with this coming described as 
a great light which should lighten the Gentiles, 
as a result of which God’s people should con¬ 
stitute “the City of the Lord, the Zion of the 
Holy One of Israel” (v. 14). This is spiritual, 
we know, and belongs to the gospel dispensation. 
But notice the immediate description given by 
the prophet—“For brass I will bring gold, and 
for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, 
and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers 
peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Vio¬ 
lence shall no more be heard in thy land, wast¬ 
ing nor destruction within thy borders: but 
thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy 
gates Praise” (vs. 17, 18). The church does 
not possess in a literal sense gold, iron, brass, 
walls, and gates, but the language itself is sig¬ 
nificant, and its meaning evident. 


NO MORE INFANT OF DAYS 


183 


Then chapter 61 opens with the words, “The 
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because 
the Lord hath anointed me to preach good 
tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind 
up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to 
the captives, and the opening of the prison to 
them that are bound.” This scripture Christ 
read in the synagogue at Nazareth, and then 
said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in 
your ears” (see Luke 4: 16-21). This Person, 
then, does not appear in some fancied millen¬ 
nial age, but has already come. 

Let us continue the prophecy of Isaiah con¬ 
cerning the work which he should perform. “To 
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give 
unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for 
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit 
of heaviness . . . and they shall build the old 
wastes , they shall raise up the former desola¬ 
tions , and they shall repair the waste cities , the 
desolations of many generations. And strangers 
shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons 
of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your 
vine-dressers. But ye shall be named the Priests 
of the Lord: men shall call you the ministers 
of our God: and ye shall eat the riches of the 
Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast your- 


184 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


selves” (vs. 3-6). It is evident that this scrip¬ 
ture, together with the following chapter, sets 
forth the spiritual prosperity of the follow¬ 
ers of Christ in the gospel dispensation, though 
the phraseology and symbolism is that of the 
prosperous Israelites after their return to their 
own land. 

Now notice how this language corresponds 
with the special text we are considering, and its 
context. “There shall be no more thence an 
infant of days, nor an old man that hath not 
filled his days: for the child shall die an hun¬ 
dred years old; but the sinner being an hundred 
years old shall be accursed. And they shall 
build houses and inhabit them; and they shall 
plant vineyards , and eat the fruit of them. They 
shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall 
not plant, and another eat; for as the days of 
a tree are the days of my people , and mine elect 
shall long enjoy the work of their hands” 
(Chap. 65:20-22). 

But the spiritual welfare of the New Testa¬ 
ment church not only corresponds to the abun¬ 
dant prosperity of literal Israel, but it exceeds 
this. The salvation of Jesus so alters the na¬ 
tures and conditions of men that the church 
is in all spiritual respects paradise restored, 


NO MORE INFANT OF DAYS 


185 


therefore this happy and marvelous change is 
here represented by the prophet as a “new 
heavens and a new earth,” saying, “Be ye glad 
and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, 
behold, I create Jerusalem [the New Testament 
church] a rejoicing, and her people a joy” 
(v. 18). Before the flood, when men lived near¬ 
ly one thousand years, the person who died at 
the age of one hundred was supposed to die in 
his youth; in fact, he was probably regarded as 
cut off in his youth as a punishment for sin. 
But God’s people have in a spiritual sense the 
prosperity of a new earth—“as the days of a 
tree are the days of my people” (v. 22). The 
“tree” probably refers to the oak, which oft 
times lives for a thousand years. “Mine elect 
shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They 
shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trou¬ 
ble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the 
Lord” (vs. 22, 23). 

This is not a literal description to meet a 
fulfilment in some future age, for in the future 
world the people of God shall not die at all— 
either at the age of one hundred or one thousand 
years. “But they which shall be accounted 
worthy to obtain that world, and the resurreo 
tion from the dead, neither marry, nor are given 


186 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


in marriage: neither can they die any more: for 
they are equal unto the angels; and are the chil¬ 
dren of God, being the children of the resurrec¬ 
tion" (Luke 20:35, 36). 

So we see that the language of the prophet 
can not refer to a condition of mankind after 
the resurrection; and it is beyond the resurrec¬ 
tion, during the supposed millennium, that this 
text has been generally applied. The reader 
must remember that in prophecy, literal things 
are generally used to teach spiritual truths. 
This is the general rule throughout the books 
of prophecy and Revelation. To place literal 
interpretations upon the prophecies in general 
is to miss the truth, and those who do so, fail 
to grasp the mind of inspiration and fall into 
gross errors. A careful reading of the many 
applications of the Old Testament prophecies 
made by the apostles in the New Testament will 
show that, though spoken in language that would 
appear to have a literal signification and appli¬ 
cation to Israel after the flesh, they are entirely 
spiritual in their nature and refer to the ac¬ 
complishments of the gospel during the Chris¬ 
tian era. 

So in the text under consideration. A day in 
the courts of the Lord are worth a thousand in 


DESERT BLOSSOM AS ROSE 


187 


the realm of sin. The righteous shall flourish 
as a palm-tree. “With long life will I satisfy 
him and show him my salvation.” In this con¬ 
nection, it is well to mention that there will be 
a real new heaven and new earth brought to view 
in the future. This will be the eternal home of 
the redeemed. The church on earth being the 
visible form of the kingdom of heaven, and be¬ 
ing so closely associated with heaven itself, fre¬ 
quently we find the same terms applied to each. 


THE DESERT SHALL BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE 

Another beautiful figure under which the 
glories of Messiah’s kingdom was foretold, is 
found in the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah. “Be 
strong, fear not; behold, your God will come 
with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he 
will come and save you” (v. 4). This refers to 
“God manifest in the flesh,” in the person of 
Jesus Christ, who brought salvation to a lost 
world. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be 
opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be un¬ 
stopped: then shall the lame man leap as an 
hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in 
the wilderness shall waters break out, and 



188 


CHRIST'S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


streams in the desert” (vs. 5, 6). All this was 
fulfilled during the personal ministry of Christ, 
for the Gospels record a history of just such 
accomplishments as are here predicted. The 
eyes of the blind were opened, the ears of the 
deaf were unstopped, the lame were made to 
walk, and the dumb were made to sing. Nor 
did this cease when Christ ascended into heaven; 
but it was continued under the labors of the 
apostles: and, thank God, we are glad to say 
that in these last days there are thousands who 
can testify that all contained in this prophecy 
has been fulfilled. Yea, our eyes have witnessed 
the very things herein foretold. So we are liv¬ 
ing in the dispensation of time when the good 
things predicted in Isaiah 35 reach their ful¬ 
filment. 

In vs. 8-10 we have a beautiful picture of the 
highway of holiness lifted up through the gos¬ 
pel, and the happy state of those who are now 
“redeemed” through the blood of Christ. These 
are termed “the ransomed of the Lord.” Zion 
is their dwelling-place, and “everlasting joy” 
their portion. This expresses the state and 
condition of those who now enjoy full salvation. 
There is no reference here to a future age, be¬ 
cause all these things are now fully provided 


DESERT BLOSSOM AS ROSE 


189 


for through the atonement of Christ, and en¬ 
joyed through the abundant grace of God. 

Right in connection with the things afore 
mentioned, the prophet said: “The wilderness 
and the solitary place shall be glad for them; 
and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the 
rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and re¬ 
joice even with joy and singing” (vs. 1, 2). 
“And the parched ground shall become a pool, 
and the thirsty land springs of water: in the 
habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be 
grass, with reeds and rushes” (v. 7). This 
language is highly figurative. The soul of the 
unsaved is compared to parched ground and a 
desert, a thirsty land. 

By reference to Jer. 17: 5-8, which is a paral¬ 
lel scripture to the above, it will be seen that 
the human heart is meant, instead of the literal 
deserts of this earth. “Thus saith the Lord; 
Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and 
maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth 
from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath 
in the desert, and shall not see when good com- 
eth; but shall inhabit the parched places in the 
wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, 
and whose hope the Lord is: For he shall be 


190 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


as a tree planted by the waters, and that spread- 
eth out her roots by the river, and shall not see 
when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; 
and shall not be careful in the year of drought, 
neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Here 
we see that those who depart from the Lord and 
live in sin are like “the heath in the desert,” 
and inhabit parched places in the wilderness. A 
better figure could not be employed to denote 
the desolate state of the unsaved. But when 
such seek the Lord and turn away from their 
sins, then is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 
as recorded in the forty-first chapter, seven¬ 
teenth and eighteenth verses—“When the poor 
and needy seek water, and there is none, and 
their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will 
hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake 
them. I will open rivers in high places and 
fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will 
make the wilderness a pool of water and the 
dry land springs of water.” 

In Psa. 63:1 we have this striking picture 
of a soul seeking God for full salvation: “O 
God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: 
my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for 
thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water 
is.” The reader can at once see that instead of 


DESERT BLOSSOM AS ROSE 


191 


making a literal application of these texts, they 
are to be interpreted in a highly spiritual sense. 
The wilderness, solitary place, and desert, sim¬ 
ply represent the cheerless, wretched, and barren 
state of the ungodly. Such are said to inhabit a 
dry land where no water is. This represents 
the thirstings and longings of the soul that the 
pleasures, riches, and honors of this world can 
not satisfy. Millions all about us are famish¬ 
ing, thirsting, and dying for want of the liv¬ 
ing waters; and yet, salvation, like a spring of 
cool, sparkling, refreshing water, has been pro¬ 
vided for every human soul. The invitation is, 
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters” (Isa. 55: 1). 

Jesus points to himself as the fountain of 
life. “Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any 
man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” 
(John 7:37). All are invited; no one excluded. 
“Let him that is athirst come: and whosoever 
will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 
22: 17). Yes, salvation’s waters quench all the 
thirstings of the human heart and fully satisfy. 
Listen to the announcement, “I will give unto 
him that is athirst of the fountain of the water 
of life freely” (Rev. 21: 6). This means there 
is a great abundance. Hear Christ again, “But 


192 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall 
give him shall never thirst; but the water that 
I shall give him shall be in him a well of water 
springing up unto everlasting life” (John 4: 
14). Here are the springs of water that were 
to spring forth as “streams in the desert.” 

Again, we hear the evangelistic prophet 
breaking forth with new inspiration as he fore¬ 
told the glories of the Christian dispensation. 
“Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of 
the wells of salvation” (Isa. 12:3). And again, 
“The Lord shall guide thee continually, and sat¬ 
isfy thy soul in drouth, and make fat thy bones: 
and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and 
like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” 
(Isa. 58:11). Thank God, these texts locate 
the desert condition and the watered garden 
condition in the human soul. This is not a mil¬ 
lennial dream, but a glorious, present reality. 
While we pen these lines our soul is made to 
drink of the river of his pleasures, and of that 
stream whose waters “make glad the city of 
God.” Through salvation, the sterile, desolate 
soul is made to bring forth like a watered garden 
and to blossom as the rose. The fruits of the 
Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, and 


NATIONS LEARN WAR NO MORE 


193 


faith, are borne in great abundance in the lives 
of God’s people. Through the grace of God 
we are enabled to “bring forth much fruit,” to 
the glory of God. The Christian “is like a 
tree planted by the rivers of water, that bring- 
eth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also 
shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall 
prosper.” He stands in the midst of a sinful 
and wicked world as an oasis in the desert. Sur¬ 
rounded by all the desolation and havoc that sin 
has wrought, he lives like a fruitful vine laden 
with the ripe clusters of the sweet graces of the 
kingdom of heaven. In his heart and life there 
blooms the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the 
Valley. 

O friend, instead of sitting idly by, dreaming 
of a fancied millennial age that will never come, 
embrace the present privileges and blessings of 
the kingdom of God, and yours shall be a happy 
life, here and in the kingdom of glory beyond. 


THE NATIONS SHALL LEARN WAR NO MORE 

In Isa. 2: 2-4 will be found another picture 
of the reign of Messiah and his kingdom. “And 
it shall come to pass in the last days, that the 



194 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


mountain of the Lord’s house shall be estab¬ 
lished in the top of the mountains, and shall be 
exalted above the hills; and all nations shall 
flow unto it. And many people shall go and 
say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain 
of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; 
and he will teach us of his ways, and we will 
walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth 
the law, and the word of the Lord from Jeru¬ 
salem. And he shall judge among the nations, 
and shall rebuke many people: and they shall 
beat their swords into plowshares, and their 
spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift 
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn 
war any more.” 

Two distinct phases of Christ’s kingdom are 
brought out in many of the prophecies of the 
Old Testament, as well as in the clear teachings 
of the New, and in the Revelation. 

We see one phase of Christ as a conqueror, 
riding forth as a mighty warrior, followed by 
the armies of heaven, and in every conflict he 
vanquishes all his foes. Thus, he is seen going 
forth against the hosts of hell and darkness “con¬ 
quering and to conquer.” With direct reference 
to this distinct phase of the accomplishments of 
the kingdom of heaven, the prophet Joel speaks 


NATIONS LEARN WAR NO MORE 


195 


thus: “Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, 
let all the men of war draw near; let them come 
up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your 
pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I 
am strong.” 

But in the prophecy of Isaiah quoted at the 
beginning of this chapter and a parallel one in 
Micah 4, we have Christ’s kingdom described 
from an entirely different point of view—the 
peaceful reign of righteousness—and Christ is 
seen as the “Prince of Peace.” The reader will 
observe that all contained in this prophecy was 
to “come to pass in the last days.” Wherever 
the last days are mentioned in Scripture, the 
days of Messiah are always meant. In Heb. 
1:1, 2, we have the last days located: God 
“hath in these last days spoken unto us by his 
Son.” The Christian dispensation constitutes 
the last days of this world’s career. Hence we 
are now living in the time when Isaiah’s proph¬ 
ecy was to reach its fulfilment. 

The mountain of the Lord’s house, also 
termed the mountain of the Lord, the house of 
the God of Jacob, is none other than the New 
Testament church. Paul said to the Hebrew 
brethren, “Ye are come unto mount Sion, and 
unto the city of the living God,” which he de- 


196 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


nominates “the general assembly and church of 
the first-born, which are written in heaven.” It 
is in this dispensation that the saints in light 
dwell in the mountain of God’s holiness, and 
this constitutes the Christian church. “And all 
nations shall flow unto it.” This clearly refers 
to the accomplishments of the gospel during 
the current age. Under the law, the true God 
was known to Israel only, but the gospel privi¬ 
leges are extended to all nations. Literal Zion 
was the dwelling-place of the Jews. Spiritual 
Zion is the abode of the saved of all nations; 
for “out of Zion shall go forth the law, and 
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” By ref¬ 
erence to Luke 24:47, it will be seen that this 
is now fulfilled in “that repentance and remis¬ 
sion of sins should be preached in his name 
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” 
Christ himself applied the prophecy thus: “But 
ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost 
is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto 
me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in 
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the 
earth” (Acts 1:8). 

Now, in connection with this, and among the 
things that were to come to pass in these last 
days, the prophet added, “They shall beat their 


NATIONS LEARN WAR NO MORE 


197 


swords into plowshares and their spears into 
pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword 
against nation, neither shall they learn war 
any more.” Some have thought that this refers 
to a time of universal peace among the literal 
nations of earth; and they conclude that since 
the nations in the present order of things, are 
in a general state of unrest and war, spending 
great sums of money in preparation for such 
conflicts., and perfecting their armies and build¬ 
ing formidable destroyers and dreadnoughts, 
etc., that another age must follow the present 
one when these predictions of universal peace 
will be fully realized. The fact is, that the ideal 
state of society as set forth in these prophecies 
of the Old Testament does not refer to the 
political conditions of the world, but rather to 
the peaceful condition and state of the kingdom 
of God. There is nothing that can effect uni¬ 
versal peace except universal righteousness. 
Such pictures as the prophet here gives were not 
intended to describe the condition of the tem¬ 
poral, political kingdoms of earth, but the hap¬ 
py state of that “holy nation” gathered out 
from all the nations and peoples and kingdoms 
of the earth—the saints who dwell in Zion. It is 
descriptive of the glorious peace and unity 


198 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


which exists among the saved of all nations who 
are gathered into the blessed kingdom of God. 

This perfectly harmonizes with the angel’s 
prediction that Christ’s first coming would 
bring ‘peace on earth and good-will toward 
men.’ In the kingdom of grace, the middle wall 
of partition between Jew and Gentile, and in 
fact between all nations of men, is broken down, 
and through salvation they are brought into 
one family, where their hearts are knit together 
in love. And perfect peace reigns in mount 
Zion. No more wrangling or quarreling, for 
war is forever destroyed, and nothing but peace 
reigns in the hearts of the followers of the Lord 
Jesus Christ in this dispensation. In Micah 
4:17 we have the place of this peaceful reign 
clearly located: “And the Lord shall reign over 
them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for¬ 
ever.” 

Through the grace and truth of God, the 
saved of all nations are brought into one fold; 
belong to but one church, the church of God; 
are all of one heart and one soul; one mind; all 
speak the same things; all have one faith, one 
spirit; all strive together, rejoice together, as¬ 
semble together, and see eye to eye. God over 
all, in all, and through them all, knits their 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 199 


hearts together in love. Surely the prophet did 
not overdraw the picture of this. 

Instead of sitting idly by, dreaming of the 
literal fulfilment of these predictions in an age 
that will never come, the saints of the most 
High are now enjoying the fulfilment of these 
blessed truths. D. S. Warner said, “About all 
the false doctrines in the world today can be 
summed up under two headings: Some other 
way but Christ; some other time but now.” 


THE BINDING AND LOOSING OF THE DRAGON 

Throughout the Book of Revelation there are 
three great religious powers brought to view. 
These are symbolized by “the dragon,” “the 
beast,” and his “image,” or the false prophet. 
The pagan power is symbolized by the dragon; 
the papal is symbolized by the beast, and the 
Protestant is symbolized by the image, or false 
prophet. 

The first mention of the dragon is in Revela¬ 
tion 12. Here we have “a great red dragon, 
having seven heads and ten horns, and seven 
crowns upon his heads.” He has a tail with 
which he drew the third part of the stars of 



200 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


heaven and cast them to the earth. In the same 
chapter, the Christian church is brought to 
view under the symbol of a woman and her child. 
It will be seen that “the dragon was wroth with 
the woman” and “persecuted” her and “made 
war with the remnant of her seed.” A great con¬ 
flict took place between Michael and his angels, 
and this great dragon and his angels; but the 
dragon was defeated, and as a result of this 
defeat, a loud voice was heard saying, “Now is 
come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom 
of our God, and the power of his Christ.” This 
shows that the conflict was between Christ and 
the dragon. Some expositors have supposed 
that this dragon is the devil; but it must take 
a great stretch of imagination to believe that 
Beelzebub is a monster dragon with seven heads 
and ten horns, and a tail with which he drags 
after him the stars of heaven. It seems some 
people forget that this is a book of symbols 
and that the language of Revelation is highly 
figurative. This dragon would properly sym¬ 
bolize a tyrannical persecuting government. It 
was a “red dragon,” which carries the idea of 
blood-thirstiness and cruelty. 

It is very easy to identify this dragon by his 
heads and horns. It will be seen that this dragon 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 201 


had his crowns upon his heads. In the follow¬ 
ing chapter, we read that John saw a beast ris¬ 
ing up out of the sea with the same number of 
heads and horns, but ten crowns on his horns; 
and the dragon gave him (the beast) “his power, 
and his seat, and great authority.” So far as 
the heads and horns are concerned, the only 
difference between the two is that the crowns— 
a symbol of supreme authority and power—had 
been transferred from the heads to the horns. 
In Revelation 17, John saw the same beast 
again, and there it is said of the seven heads 
“there are seven kings, five are fallen, and one 
is, and the other is not yet come; and when he 
cometh, he must continue a short space” (v. 
10). Concerning the horns he was told, “The 
horns which thou seest are ten kings, which have 
received no kingdom as yet” (v. 12). With this 
explanation it will be easy to identify the dragon 
of chapter 12 and the beast of chapters 13 and 
17 as the Roman Empire; the first under the 
pagan, and the second under the papal, form. 
The seven heads represent the seven supreme 
forms of government which the Roman Empire 
had, which were as follows: The Regal power, 
the Dictatorship, the Decemvirate, the Con¬ 
sular, the Triumvirate, the Imperial, and the 


202 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


Patriciate. The ten horns of the dragon rep¬ 
resent the ten kingdoms which grew out of the 
Roman Empire during its decline and fall. The 
casting-down of the stars doubtless refers to 
the bright luminaries who were martyred during 
the reign of paganism. Just as fast as men ac¬ 
cepted the Christian faith the pagans were ready 
to devour them. Such were the bloody days of 
the church under pagan Rome. 

The appellations “old serpent, devil, and Sa¬ 
tan,” applied to the dragon, must be under¬ 
stood figuratively. Paganism could well be 
called “the devil,” because its religion was pure¬ 
ly of the devil. Paul says, “The things which 
the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and 
not to God; and I would not that ye should have 
fellowship with devils; ye can not drink the cup 
of the Lord and the cup of devils” (1 Cor. 10: 
20, 21). Paganism is called Satan, a Hebrew 
word signifying an adversary, from its great 
opposition to and its persecution of the Chris¬ 
tian church. It is also called “that old serpent 
which deceiveth the whole world,” from its 
subtlety against the Christians, and its caus¬ 
ing the whole Roman world, as far as was in its 
power, to embrace the absurdities of paganism. 
At the ushering in of the Gospel dispensation, 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 203 


paganism was the universal religion. From a 
careful reading of the conflicts of the early 
Christians with this dragon power, one would 
be almost led to believe that paganism under 
the Roman government was Satan incarnate. 
It was through this system that the devil worked 
his greatest opposition against Christianity. It 
is a fact that the early Christians called the 
pagan power the devil, and they rightly named 
it; for it was the principle agent through which 
the devil deceived the world and opposed the 
church of God in primitive days. 

There is but one dragon mentioned in the 
Revelation. In chapter 12, where he first ap¬ 
pears, he is described as a great red dragon, 
and in every subsequent place where he is re¬ 
ferred to, he is spoken of as the dragon, showing 
that it is the same dragon. “And I saw an 
angel come down from heaven having the key 
of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his 
hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that 
old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and 
bound him a thousand years, and cast him into 
the bottomless pit; and shut him up, and set a 
seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations 
no more, till the thousand years should be ful- 


204 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


filled: and after that he must be loosed a little 
season” (Rev. 20: 1-3). 

This scripture, no doubt, has been more spec¬ 
ulated upon than any other in the Bible. It is 
used as a foundation for all the multiplied ab¬ 
surdities and diversities of false doctrines re¬ 
specting a fancied millennial future. In fact, 
many in their blind zeal will set aside the plain 
testimony of the New Testament scriptures, and 
literalize this text. It is certainly a very un¬ 
safe mode of interpretation to found a theory 
upon the metaphorical and symbolical language 
of scriptures, and then try to bend all the plain, 
simple declarations of truth to harmonize with 
such a theory. Any one can see at a glance that 
the safe and right way is to place such interpre¬ 
tations upon the highly figurative language of 
scriptures as will perfectly harmonize with the 
plain, simple teaching of scripture elsewhere. 
Almost everybody admits that the remainder of 
the Revelation is highly figurative, but when 
they come to Revelation 20, they insist upon a 
literal interpretation. Rev. 20:1-9 is as high¬ 
ly symbolical as that of Revelation 9th, 12th, 
13th, and, in fact, the greater part of the entire 
book. 

The prophecies of the Revelation are laid out 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 205 


in parallel series, each covering the Christian 
dispensation. There are almost a dozen of such 
series in the book. One theme is taken up and 
carried through until the end, and then the 
narrative returns to take up another theme or 
a different phase of the same theme covering 
the same ground and terminating at the same 
point. The last verse of Revelation 19 ends one 
series of prophecy, showing the overthrow of 
certain evil powers in the lake of fire. Then 
chapter 20 begins a new series of prophecy 
covering the gospel dispensation likewise, and 
ending at the same point, the lake of fire (v. 15). 
Note this point carefully. The leading events 
of this chapter take place before the second 
coming of Christ and the judgment scene, and 
not afterwards (vs. 11-15). All the events from 
verses 1 to 9 lead up to the time when the cor¬ 
rupt powers of earth will be cast into the lake 
of fire; then follows the great judgment scene, 
when the righteous will be rewarded and the 
wicked punished (vs. 11-15). So the events of 
Rev. 20: 1-9 must preceed the second coming 
of Christ and the general judgment, instead of 
following it, as many people have believed. No¬ 
tice also, that this particular character of Reve¬ 
lation 20 is designated "the dragon.” This 


206 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


clearly shows that the object has already been 
introduced. So the dragon of Revelation 20 
and that of Revelation 12 is identical. Observe 
how closely Rev. 20: 1-3 agrees with Revelation 
12. A careful comparison makes clear that we 
have here two parallel series covering in some 
respects two separate phases of thought, and 
yet each sustain and explain the other. The 
dragon in both chapters, being identical, sig¬ 
nifies the great corrupt system of paganism 
which for centuries deceived the nations—the 
whole world. 

In chapter 12 we have brought to view the 
great conflict between primitive Christianity 
and heathenism under the symbol of Michael and 
his angels fighting with the dragon and his an¬ 
gels. The power of Christ prevailed, and the 
Christians overcame the dragon. In Revelation 
20, an angel came from heaven, bound the drag¬ 
on, and hurled him from the lofty position which 
he held to the great abyss from which he em¬ 
anated. When this power ruled the earth, and 
its religion was universal; when almost the en¬ 
tire then-known world was under the deceptive 
influence of this huge system of error; Chris¬ 
tianity, like an angel from heaven, appeared on 
the scene, and, with the great chain of gospel 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 207 


truth, she bound and completely overthrew this 
public system of pagan infidelity. The chain in 
her hand is a symbol of the power to bind, and 
this was surely effected through the Gospel. 

“When Christianity first commenced its war¬ 
fare with this huge system of error, almost the 
entire then-known world was under its decep¬ 
tive influence; but by a long conflict, in which 
thousands of the noble followers of the 
Lamb were slaughtered, this anti-Christian pub¬ 
lic system of pagan infidelity was at last com¬ 
pletely overthrown; and the final result was, 
that the civilized world became as completely 
Christian (nominally, at least) as it ever had 
been pagan. This great transformation could 
never have been effected without the undying 
heroism and whole-hearted consecration of the 
first disciples of Christ. From this time the 
dragon as such —as a public deceiver of the na¬ 
tions throughout the apocalyptic earth—was 
overthrown. This marks the beginning of the 
thousand years mentioned. 

“Since many of the principles of heathenism 
were copied by the Church of Rome, it may be 
difficult for some to understand at first why it 
is said that the dragon no longer deceived the 
nations after being cast down by primitive 


208 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


Christianity; but this becomes clear when we 
consider what the dragon really was, and what 
the Church of Rome was understood to be. A 
time came when the entire civilized world knew 
that heathenism as such was wrong, and re¬ 
jected the very idea of a plurality of gods; but 
they were led to believe that they could adapt 
many of their former rights and ceremonies to 
the worship of the one true God in whom they 
believed and thereby render acceptable service 
to him, and were sure that the Romish church 
was the one true apostolic church. It was not 
the dragon, or heathenism, that then deceived 
them; it was Christianity —a false Christianity .” 
The manner in which the people were deceived 
during the time following the casting-down of 
heathenism in the beginning is brought to view 
in Revelation 13 and 17. The entire reign of 
the great apostasy of the Christian era covers 
the same period included in the one thousand 
years mentioned in this vision before us. 

“We can not apply this period specified as 
literally one thousand years without varying 
from every principle of time prophecy in the 
Revelation, for they are all symbolic; neither 
can we apply it according to the usual year- 
day method, which, signifying three hundred 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 209 


and sixty thousand years, would throw this 
series of events out of harmony with the time 
periods alloted to the other themes of truth, 
running over the same ground and terminating 
at the same point—the general judgment. 
Therefore, to be consistent, we shall have to ap¬ 
ply it as (so far as human knowledge of the 
exact dates is concerned) an indefinite length of 
time, on the same principle that ‘the hour of 
temptation’ in chap. 3:10, the ‘three and one 
half days’ in chap. 11:9, and the ‘hour’ in which 
the ten kingdoms received power with the beast 
(chap. 17:12), etc., are applied.” 

As verses 4-6 have already been explained in 
previous chapters, we will here make but brief 
reference to the same. I will insert the fol¬ 
lowing exegesis of these three verses from The 
Revelation Explained, by F. G. Smith. 

“We have in this description another divi¬ 
sion of the subject introduced—a history of 
God’s people, or one phase of the church, dur¬ 
ing the same thousand years following the cast¬ 
ing down of the dragon. ‘They lived and reigned 
with Christ.’ It was those who had ‘part in the 
first resurrection’ that were exalted to this hon¬ 
ored position with Christ. Millenarians al¬ 
ways assume that this refers to a literal resur- 


210 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


rection at the second coming of Christ, but no 
such thing is hinted at. Not one word is said 
about literally resurrected saints reigning. John 
says, ‘I saw the souls of them which were be¬ 
headed for the witness of Jesus . . . and they 
lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.’ 
Nothing whatever is said about any reign on 
earth at all; but the description shows plainly 
that it was disembodied spirits that were reign¬ 
ing with Christ in paradise during the period 
that followed the casting down of the dragon, 
which was in reality one of long apostasy and 
darkness on earth. Before and during this con¬ 
flict with paganism, the church of God was pub¬ 
licly triumphant on earth. Afterward, during 
the apostasy, a false church was, in the public 
view, triumphant, while the church of God was 
crowded out of sight into the wilderness. How¬ 
ever, the reign of God’s saints did not cease; 
for when they were slaughtered by their relent¬ 
less persecutors and deprived of their reign on 
earth, they were, as symbolized by the man- 
child, caught up to God and to his throne and 
there ‘lived and reigned with Christ’ during the 
thousand years under consideration. 

“This same thought concerning the reign of 
the martyrs in paradise while the powers of 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 211 


evil triumphed on earth, was brought to view on 
the opening of the fifth seal in chap. 6:9-11: 
‘And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw 
under the altar the souls of them that were slain 
for the word of God, and for the testimony 
which they held: and they cried with a loud 
voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, 
dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on 
them that dwell on the earth? And white robes 
were given unto every one of them; and it was 
said unto them, that they should rest yet for a 
little season, until their fellow servants also and 
their brethren, that should he killed as they were 
should be fulfilled.’ This quotation will make 
clear one point concerning the refusal of the 
martyrs to worship the beast and his image. We 
are not to understand that every soul of the 
martyrs John saw in these visions reigned dur¬ 
ing the entire period under consideration; but 
he beheld the reign of the saints above during 
the one thousand years, and he saw there the 
souls of all the martyrs—such as had been slain 
in the early days of Christianity (chap. 12:11) ; 
such as refused to worship the beast and were 
martyred therefor (chap. 13:7); and also, 
such as ‘should be killed as they were’ (chap. 
6:11) and were put to death shortly after the 


212 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


formation of the image of the beast (chap. 13: 
15; 16:6). 

“This company of souls that the apostle saw 
reigning with Christ above were those who had 
had part ‘in the first resurrection,’ which had 
made them ‘blessed and holy.’ They were not 
on earth; they were disembodied spirits above, 
hence had not been literally resurrected. The 
Scriptures clearly teach that mankind in their 
ordinary condition are ‘dead in trespasses and 
in sins,’ and that through salvation, which makes 
them ‘blessed and holy,’ they are ‘quickened’ to 
a new life in Christ (Eph. 2:1). That this is 
Scripturally ‘the first resurrection,’ is proved 
most positively by the words of Christ—‘Ver¬ 
ily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, 
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice 
of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him 
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not 
come into condemnation, but is passed from 
death unto life 9 (John 5:25, 24). Although 
many other proofs could easily be given, this of 
itself is sufficient to establish the point that the 
host of early Christians who had ‘passed from 
death unto life’ in Christ and who gave their 
lives gladly for the sake of Christ, constituted 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 213 


the ones referred to as having had ‘part in the 
first resurrection.’ According to verse 6 it was 
only on those who had part in the first resur¬ 
rection that the second death had no power. The 
church at Smyrna received the sure promise 
from Christ himself that they should ‘not be 
hurt of the second death’ (chap. 2:11); and 
this shows beyond all question that even at that 
early date they had had part in this first resur¬ 
rection that makes men blessed and holy. 

“It is the trick of Beelzebub to deceive souls 
by causing them to overlook the fact that this 
first resurrection that made men blessed and 
holy is of a spiritual nature and to fix their 
hopes in two literal resurrections at the end. 
There will be but one literal resurrection then, 
as is clearly shown by the account given of the 
judgment in this chapter (vs. 11-15). The 
writer of the Revelation declared positively, 
‘Behold, he cometh with clouds: and every eye 
shall see him, and they also which pierced him: 
and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because 
of him’ (chap. 1:7). If this does not prove 
that there is but one literal resurrection when 
Christ comes, then I would not know how to 
state such a fact if I desired. Furthermore, 
Jesus himself, in the same chapter in which he 


214 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


described ‘the first resurrection,’ says most pos¬ 
itively that all the literal dead shall be resur¬ 
rected at the same time. ‘Marvel not at this,’ 
he says; ‘the hour is coming, in the which all 
that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and 
shall come forth; they that have done good, 
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have 
done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation’ 
(John 5: 28, 29). This hour certainly can not 
signify more than a short period of time.” 

“It is evident that ‘the first resurrection’ as 
applied in this connection specified particularly 
that phase of the church which, as symbolized 
by the man-child, was caught up to God through 
martyrdom and there ‘lived and reigned with 
Christ.’ The other phase of the church, sym¬ 
bolized by the woman, is not said to reign with 
Christ a thousand years, but, on the other hand, 
is represented as driven into the wilderness, her 
public reign on earth being ended by the holy 
city being trodden under foot of a profane mul¬ 
titude of apostate beast-worshipers; and the two 
witnesses, clothed in sackcloth were prophesying 
only in a few isolated, individual hearts. 

“A careful study of this scripture, taken in 
connection with others in the Revelation apply¬ 
ing to the same object, will show that all God’s 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 215 


people, both those here brought to view during 
the thousand years and those following that 
period, are spoken of as dead people resurrected 
and reigning. They are considered under two 
phases—those who, as symbolized by the man- 
child, were caught up to God through martyr¬ 
dom and there lived and reigned with Christ; 
and those who, as symbolized by the woman, 
were deprived of their public reign on earth 
and were driven into the wilderness during the 
same period. The first phase were ‘priests of 
God and of Christ’ and reigned with him in para¬ 
dise (chap. 6: 9-11) ; but ‘the rest,’ the phase 
symbolized by the woman, did not live and en¬ 
joy their public reign again, as in the early 
days of Christianity, until the expiration of the 
thousand-year period. It is true that individ¬ 
uals on earth received life from God and were 
thus spiritually resurrected during the thou¬ 
sand-year period; but the dominant beast power 
martyred them by thousands, the two witnesses 
were then in their sackcloth state, and thus the 
public triumphal reign of the saints on earth 
ceased. The statement of verse 5 that ‘the rest 
of the dead lived not again until the thousand 
years w r ere finished’ should be applied not in an 
individual, but in a general sense, the same as 


216 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


the reign above during the same period is con¬ 
sidered. There is also some doubt as to the 
authenticity of this sentence. It is not found 
in the Vatican Manuscript, which is one of the 
oldest in existence; and the Syriac Version, 
which has come down to us from early days 
through an entirely separate channel, does not 
contain it. However, it is evident that the 
phase of the church symbolized by the woman 
actually reigns triumphantly on earth after the 
thousand years is finished; for verses 7-9 of this 
chapter show that the dragon, combined with 
Gog and Magog, goes forth on the breadth of 
the earth to compass ‘the camp of the saints 
just before the end of time.’ 

“It is only reasonable to suppose that the 
public reign on earth would commence gradually 
and would finally reach its perfect fulfilment, 
just the same as it ceased gradually in the be¬ 
ginning. Therefore we can not point to a defi¬ 
nite date exactly marking the end of the thou¬ 
sand years, any more than we can locate ex¬ 
actly the time of its commencement; but we 
must be satisfied just to consider this symbolic 
expression as covering a long period of time 
during which these important phases of deep 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 217 


truth are considered merely from a general 
standpoint. 

“This special reign of a thousand years above 
is doubtless brought to our view for the ex¬ 
press purpose of making the history of the tri¬ 
umph of Christianity continuous. When inter¬ 
rupted on earth, the scene is suddenly trans¬ 
ferred to paradise; then when the woman comes 
out of the wilderness, and the public reign on 
earth begins again, while the woman is being pre¬ 
pared as a bride for the coming of the Lamb, 
the scene, as the following description in verse 9 
also will show, is again transferred to earth. 
The reign above does not in reality cease with 
the expiration of the thousand years, but we are 
permitted to obtain a view of it only for that 
length of time during the down-trodden state of 
the church on earth. This reign of martyrs 
above is placed in direct contrast with the pub¬ 
lic reign on earth during the same time, which 
consisted of multitudes of people worshiping the 
beast, receiving his image and his mark. What 
the ‘thrones’ on which they sat and the ‘judg¬ 
ment’ given them signifies, I do not know for 
certain, but it is doubtless the same exalted 
privilege and authority which Christ promised 


218 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


to all his overcomers—to sit with him on his 
throne (chap. 3: 21).”— Pp. 391-398. 

We now come to consider the loosing of the 
dragon. It is said that after the expiration of 
a thousand years “he must be loosed a little sea¬ 
son” (Rev. 20:3). And when he is loosed, he 
“shall go out to deceive the nations which are 
in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Ma¬ 
gog, to gather them together to battle; the 
number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And 
they went up on the breadth of the earth and 
compassed the camp of the saints about, and 
the beloved city; and fire came down from God 
out of heaven and devoured them” (vs. 8, 9). 
The events in the closing years of this dispensa¬ 
tion will doubtless be very similar to those in the 
beginning. History will repeat itself. Back in 
the morning light age of the church, Christian¬ 
ity opposed every false religion. This was un¬ 
avoidable, for in its very principles it stands 
opposed to every false way. As Christianity 
spread principally throughout the pagan Ro¬ 
man Empire, its effects were mostly felt there. 
As will be the case in these last days, the pagan 
systems of religion went crashing to pieces be¬ 
fore the onslaughts of Christianity. Back there 
this was confined to Rome, while in this eve- 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 219 


ning time it will be universal—all over the world. 

As we have already seen in Revelation 12, 
after Christianity cast down the dragon—pa¬ 
ganism throughout the Roman Empire—he per¬ 
secuted the woman—church (v. 13). The dragon 
became “wroth with the woman, and went to 
make war with the remnant of her seed” (v. 17). 
As the pagan systems were overthrown and 
Christianity spread throughout the entire Ro¬ 
man Empire, the devotees of these false sys¬ 
tems, seeing their religions crumble, became very 
wroth; and in order to stop the onward prog¬ 
ress of the gospel, they waged bitter persecu¬ 
tions against the Christians, or the church of 
God. The same will be true in these last days 
—only at this time all false religions of earth 
will be united in the opposition. 

With the restoration of the pure church of 
God and Christianity to their primitive glory, 
they stand opposed not only to the pagan sys¬ 
tems, but to every false and corrupt system of 
apostate Christianity. This includes the Cath¬ 
olic sect, the Eastern sects, and all Protestant 
sects. As the devotees of all these false systems 
see their religions crumbling, they will do just 
what the pagans did throughout the Roman Em¬ 
pire in the beginning: they will unite in a gen- 


220 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


eral opposition against the pure church of God. 
The shattered remnants of all these counterfeit 
religions will unite in confederation. 

“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs 
come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out 
of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth 
of the false prophet. For they are the spirits 
of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto 
the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to 
gather them to the battle of the great day of 
God Almighty” (Rev. 16:13, 14). While the 
Lord is mustering his hosts upon the high 
plains of Armageddon (Rev. 16:16) in this 
beautiful evening light, the spirits of devils will 
gather together the conquered and defeated fac¬ 
tions of all other religions in a general con¬ 
federation and opposition to the burning truth 
of God and the true saints who stand in its de¬ 
fense. This is the last great spiritual conflict. 
The dragon here is Paganism, the beast is Ro¬ 
manism, and the false prophet is Protestantism. 
All these are to be gathered together by spirits 
of devils in opposition to the true church of 
God. 

At the same time God is gathering his peo¬ 
ple out of all the maze of false religions, out of 
the Protestant sects as well as the Catholic sect. 


BINDING AND LOOSING OF DRAGON 221 


The church thus gathered out stands in direct 
opposition to all sect religions and, thank God, 
his true church has victory over them. This 
victory of the church in the evening light is seen 
in the book of symbols as follows: “And I saw 
as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and 
they that had gotten the victory over the beast, 
and over his image, and over his mark, and over 
the number of his name, stand on the sea of 
glass, having the harps of God” (Rev. 15:2). 
Dear reader, “we have reached an awful era in 
the onward flight of years.” The greatest vic¬ 
tory the church is ever to win and enjoy is here. 
She will conquer the nations and “rule them with 
a rod of iron.” This will incur a tremendous 
opposition from the shattered remnants of all 
the defeated and fallen religions of earth, just 
before the end. There will be a confederation of 
all these in a last attempt to turn back the on¬ 
ward sweeping tide of pure Christianity. Ob¬ 
serve that these spirits of devils gather the 
“whole world.” They go up on the entire 
“breadth of the earth.” That is, not only Cath¬ 
olics, Protestants, and the devotees of the va¬ 
rious pagan systems, but also Mohammedans 
and the adherents of all other false systems on 
earth will be gathered in this final conflict. 


222 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


It is evident that this will take place just be¬ 
fore the end. When Christianity shall have, 
spread over the entire world and every nation 
on earth shall have been affected by the blessed 
influence of the gospel; when the church of God 
shall have arisen in her power and glory, out¬ 
shone every institution on earth, and become in 
reality “the light of the world”; when every 
false religion has come under the consuming fire 
of the word of truth; then, as a last desperate 
effort, this confederation of all the false and 
corrupt systems of religion will prepare to crush 
the church of God. But before they can accom¬ 
plish their purpose, this world will end with the 
ushering in of “the great day of God Almighty.” 
This is Christ’s coming and the final judgment. 

The loosing of the dragon is none other than 
the revival of the old pagan spirit and religion 
in these last days. This is fulfilled in the devil- 
worship called spiritualism, and in several other 
forms at the present time. Free Masonry is but 
a form of paganism. 

We will here give proofs from the pens and 
publications of this vast body, who are founded 
on what they call the “Ancient Mysteries.” 

Warburton says: “Each of the pagan gods 
had (beside the public and open) a secret wor- 


KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD 


223 


ship paid unto him, to which none were admitted 
but those who had been selected by preparatory 
ceremonies, called initiation. This secret wor¬ 
ship was termed ‘The Mysteries.’ ” 

“Mackey, another member of this order, says: 
‘These mysteries existed in every country of 
heathendom, in each, under a different name, and 
to some extent under a different form, but al¬ 
ways and everywhere with the same design of in¬ 
culcating [teaching] by allegorical and symbol¬ 
ical teachings the great Masonic doctrines of 
the unity of God and the immortality of the 
soul. This is an important proposition and the 
fact which it enunciates [states] must never be 
lost sight of, in any inquiry into the origin of 
Free Masonry; for the pagan mysteries were to 
the spurious Free Masonry of antiquity pre¬ 
cisely what the Master’s lodges are to Free 
Masonry of the present day.’ 

“This is certainly a frank statement, coming 
as it does from a man who is an acknowledged 
and highly esteemed authority in matters per¬ 
taining to the craft. Daniel Sickles says, ‘In 
Egypt, Greece, and among other ancient nations 
Free Masonry, that is, the Mysteries, was one 
of the earliest agencies employed to effect the 
improvement and enlightenment of man.’ Pier- 


224 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


son says, ‘The identity of the Masonic insti¬ 
tutions with the Ancient Mysteries is obvious,’ 
which means, clearly to be seen, manifest to 
any and all. 

“Masons say that the order is founded on the 
Bible—that is unlearned Masons say so. Geo. 
Wingate Chase, in his Digest of Masonic Law, 
says ‘The Jews, the Turks, each reject either 
the New Testament, or the Old, or both, and yet 
we see no good reason why they should not be 
made Masons. In fact, Blue Lodge [first three 
degrees] Masonry has nothing whatever to do 
with the Bible. It is not founded on the Bible. 
If it was, it would not be Masonry; it would 
be something else.’ 

“Sickles says in speaking of the third, or 
Master Mason’s degree, ‘There are characters 
impressed upon it which can not be mistaken. 
It is thoroughly Egyptian .’ He further says 
that ‘the ceremony is older by a thousand years 
than the age of Solomon.’ ‘That our [Masonic] 
rites embrace all the possible circumstances of 
man, moral, social, and spiritual, and have a 
meaning high as the heavens, broad as the uni¬ 
verse, and profound as eternity.’—Sickles in 
Gen. Chiman Rezon. 

“The writer was informed when the charges 


KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD 


225 


were given him ‘that our ancient brethren wor¬ 
shiped in high hills and in low vales, and that 
guards were placed to keep off cowans or eaves¬ 
droppers.’ By referring to Scripture we at 
once find the character of those who worshiped 
on high hills and in low vales, and why they 
needed a guard to keep off eaves-droppers. ‘Thou 
saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every 
high hill and under every green tree thou wan- 
derest, playing the harlot’ (Jer. 2:20; 3:6). 
‘Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein 
the nations which ye shall possess served their 
gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the 
hills, and under every green tree’ (Deut. 12: 2). 
‘Enflaming yourselves with idols under every 
green tree, slaying the children in the valleys 
under the clifts of the rocks. . . . Even thither 
wentest thou up to offer sacrifice’ (Isa. 57: 5-7). 
They were not afraid of Ahab and Jezebel (2 
Kings 17:10; 1 Kings 14:23), and they grew 
and multiplied in their reigns, and in the reigns 
of all those of whom it is recorded that ‘they 
did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.’ 
Some of the kings of Israel and of Judah de¬ 
stroyed their high places for them and were 
highly favored of God for so doing. 

“Again, ‘The precepts of Jesus could not 


226 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


have been made obligatory on a Jew; a Chris¬ 
tian would have denied the sanction of the 
Koran. A Mohammedan must have rejected the 
law of Moses, and a disciple of Zoroaster would 
have turned from all to the teaching of his 
Zend-Avesta. The universal law of nature, 
which the authors of the old charges have prop¬ 
erly called the moral, is, therefore, the only law 
suited in every respect to be adopted as the 
Masonic code.’— Mackey's Text-book , ‘Ma¬ 
sonic Jurisprudence' 

“If the statements just quoted do not place 
the secret society of Masonry on a footing de¬ 
cidedly pagan, it is difficult to say just where 
it does stand. Masons in opening and closing 
their lodges still look to the east, where the sun 
rises. Ezek. 8:16—‘And he brought me into 
the inner court of the Lord’s house; and, be¬ 
hold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, be¬ 
tween the porch and the altar were about five 
and twenty men, with their backs toward the 
temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the 
east; and they worshiped the sun toward the 
east.’ 

“Tammuz, or Osiris, of Egypt, who is de¬ 
clared to be the original of Hiram Abiff the 
temple builder, is still mourned for (Ezek. 8: 


KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD 


227 


14). See Young’s Analytical Concordance or 
any standard Greek Mythology. Now see Pier¬ 
son’s Traditions of Free Masonry. ‘The Ma¬ 
sonic legend stands by itself, unsupported by 
history, or other than its own traditions. Yet 
we readily recognize in Hiram Abiff the Osiris 
of the Egyptians, the Mithras of the Persians, 
the Bacchus of the Greeks [god of drunkenness, 
or feasts, and the like], the Dionysises of the 
fraternity of Artificers, and the Atys of the 
Phrygians, whose passions, deaths and resur¬ 
rections were celebrated by these people respec¬ 
tively.’ Thus it is clearly shown that each one 
of these ancient nations had its counterfeit 
savior and redeemer, and it is here proved by the 
words of Masonic Grand Masters, authors, and 
authorities, that Masonry is of pagan origin.” 

At the present time there are several millions 
of devotees of this form of paganism in this 
Western, or New, World, and also many in the 
Old World. The spirit of old heathen Rome is 
reviving everywhere, and today it is uniting Gog 
and Magog against the saints “and the beloved 
city” (pure church) (v. 9). 

The dragon goes out “to deceive the nations 
which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog 
and Magog, to gather them together to battle.” 


228 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


The original signification of the terms “Gog” 
and “Magog” is difficult to ascertain, as all 
known accounts are conflicting. The terms oc¬ 
cur in Ezekiel 38 and 39 also. In Revelation 20 
these terms are used metaphorically to signify 
all the enemies of the church of God and op- 
posers of true Christianity. 

It is a fact that at this very time, when the 
Lord, by his Spirit is assembling his hosts for 
the grand, final, and universal advance against 
sin, idolatry, and false religions, the devil is 
already paving the way for the union of all 
false systems of religion on earth, when Chris¬ 
tianity shall have triumphed. The World’s Par¬ 
liament of Religions at Chicago in 1893 marked 
an important epoch in this latest shift infernal. 
The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet 
met in “mutual confidence and respect,” a 
“brotherhood” of religions. Theism, Judaism, 
Mohammedanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, 
Confucianism, Shintoism, Zoroastrianism, Ca¬ 
tholicism, the Greek Church, and Protestantism 
in many forms were all represented; and the del¬ 
egates of all these religions met, as they said, 
“to unite all religions against all irreligion; to 
make the golden rule the basis of this union; and 
to present to the world substantial unity of 


KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD 


229 


many religions .” I will here give extracts from 
addresses made before the Parliament. 

President Charles Carroll Bonney said in the 
opening address: “Worshipers of God and lov¬ 
ers of men: Let us rejoice that we have lived 
to see this glorious day; . . . that we are per¬ 
mitted to take part in this solemn and majestic 
event of a World’s Congress of Religions. The 
importance of this event can not be overes¬ 
timated. Its influence on the future relations 
of the various races of men, can not be too high¬ 
ly esteemed. If this Congress shall faithfully 
execute its duties with which it has been 
charged, it shall become the joy of the whole 
earth, and stand in human history like a new 
Mount Zion , crowned with glory, and marking 
the actual beginning of a new epoch of brother¬ 
hood and peace. For when the religious faiths 
of the world recognize each other as brothers y 
children of one Father , whom all profess to love 
and serve, then, and not until then, will the na¬ 
tions of the earth yield to the spirit of concord 
and learn war no more. ... We meet on the 
mountain height of absolute respect for the re¬ 
ligious convictions of each other. . . . This day 
the sun of a new era of religious peace and 
progress arises over the world, dispelling the 


230 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


dark cloud of sectarian strife. It is the broth¬ 
erhood of religions .” 

Chairman John Henry Barrows spoke thus 
in his address: “We are here not as Baptists 
and Buddhists, Catholics and Confucians, 
Parsees and Presbyterians, Methodists and Mos¬ 
lems; we are here as members of a Parliament 
of Religions, over which flies no sectarian flag, 
. . . but where for the first time in a large 
council is lifted up the banner of love, fellow¬ 
ship, brotherhood. . . . Welcome, one and all, 
thrice welcome to the world’s first Parliament 
of Religions! Welcome to the men and women 
of Israel, the standing miracle of nations and 
religions! Welcome to the disciples of Prince 
Siddartha, the many millions who worship their 
Lord Buddha as the light of Asia! Welcome to 
the high priests of the national religion of 
Japan! This city has every reason to be grate¬ 
ful to the enlightened ruler of ‘the Sunrise 
Kingdom.’ Welcome to the men of India, and 
all faiths! Welcome to all the disciples of 
Christ! ... It seems to me that the spirits of 
just and good men hover over this assembly. I 
believe the spirit of Paul is here. I believe the 
spirit of the wise and humane Buddha is here, 
and of Socrates the searcher after truth. . . . 


KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD 


231 


When a few days ago I met for the first time 
the delegates who have come to us from Japan, 
and shortly after the delegates who have come 
to us from India, I felt that the arms of human 
brotherhood had reached almost around the 
globe.”— World's Parliament of Religions , 
Chap. Ill . 

Since this great Parliament of Religions there 
have been a number of such gatherings. This is 
but preparing the way for the last great con¬ 
flict. I have observed that, no matter how 
much the sects were quarreling among them¬ 
selves, whenever we went into their midst with 
the whole gospel and God’s people were gath¬ 
ered out, the sectarians suddenly became friend¬ 
ly toward each other and began to hold union 
meetings in opposition to the truth. If the cor¬ 
rupt and false religions of earth can never agree 
on anything else, they will agree, and are agree¬ 
ing, to oppose the true church of God and the 
truth advocated by it, which is destined to “con¬ 
sume them to the end.” The devil is mustering 
his hosts—Pagan, Mohammedan, Catholic, and 
Protestant sects—in one “grand brotherhood of 
religions,” Gog and Magog. 

“And they went up on the breadth of the 
earth, and compassed the camp of the saints 


232 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


about, and the beloved city” (Rev. 20:9). The 
camp of the saints, the beloved city, is none 
other than the pure church of God gathered 
out of all false religions in these last days. Such 
is the very host that John saw on the sea of 
glass mingled with fire; and they had victory 
over all false religions (Rev. 15:2, 3). The 
hosts of hell, in order to compass the camp of 
the saints, “went up on the breadth of the 
earth.” This signifies the universality of the 
church of God, or Christianity. It will be every¬ 
where—all over the world. Therefore all false 
religions will unite in a confederation that will 
be universal, and the opposition to the church 
of God will be universal. In the midst of this 
final conflict, fire will come down from heaven 
and destroy them (Rev. 20:9). This ushers in 
“the great day of God Almighty.” “And to you 
who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord 
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his 
mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance 
on them that know not God, and that obey not 
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall 
be punished with everlasting destruction from 
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of 
his power; when he shall come to be glorified in 
his saints ... in that day” (2 Thess. 1: 7-10). 


KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD 


233 


WHEN SHALL THE EARTH BE FULL OF THE 
KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD? 

“For the earth shall be filled with the knowl¬ 
edge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters 
cover the sea” (Hab. 2: 14). The question to 
be decided is, In what dispensation is the above 
prediction by the prophet to reach its fulfil¬ 
ment? It is applied by many teachers to their 
supposed millennial age; but let us carefully 
investigate. 

Note the fact that it is not righteousness that 
is to fill the earth as the waters cover the sea, 
but “the knowledge” of the Lord. A similar 
prophecy is found in Dan. 12: 4, where it is said 
that in “the time of the end, many shall run to 
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” 
These predictions must certainly refer to the 
Christian dispensation. Before the coming of 
Messiah, the true God was only known to one 
nation—Israel—and they were confined to a 
limited territory. All the other nations with 
their teeming millions were at that time without 
the knowledge of God, rejected, and cast off. 
Each of the several nations had its own god; 
For example, Dagon was the god of the Phil¬ 
istines, and Baal the god of the Phoenicians. 


234 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


These were generally recognized as national 
gods. Just so, the surrounding nations looked 
upon Israel. Jehovah was their God. In fact 
the Israelites themselves generally looked upon 
Jehovah as the God of their nation alone—a 
national God—in the same sense as all other 
nations recognized their deities. 

The prophet foretold a day when Jehovah 
would not be recognized as the God of merely 
one nation, but would be “King over all the 
earth”; and when “all dominions shall serve and 
obey him.” The knowledge of the glory of the 
Lord would not be confined to one people, but 
the whole earth would be filled with this knowl¬ 
edge. This harmonizes with the announcement 
at the time of Jesus’ birth; “Behold, I bring 
you good tidings of great joy which shall be to 
all people” (Luke 2:10). Malachi, referring 
to the same thing, says, “My name shall be 
great among the Gentiles; and in every place 
incense shall be offered unto my name, and a 
pure offering. For my name shall be great 
among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts” 
(Mai. 1:11). 

Here we see that the diffusion of light and the 
knowledge of the Lord among the Gentile na¬ 
tions, which is fulfilled during the Christian era, 


KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD 


235 


is referred to; and that “repentance and remis¬ 
sion of sins should be preached in his name 
among all nations , beginning at Jerusalem” 
(Luke 24:47). In speaking to the ministry in 
this dispensation, Christ said, “Ye shall be wit¬ 
nesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all 
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Hence the 
urgent command, “Go ye therefore, and teach 
all nations.” “Go ye into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to every creature.” This 
commission to diffuse the knowledge of God in 
all the world among all nations, is given to the 
ministry and church in this dispensation. 
Therefore we are now living in the age when 
the knowledge of the Lord is to fill all the earth. 
But this is settled beyond all controversy by the 
language of Jesus as recorded in Matt. 24:14: 
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached 
in all the world for a witness unto all nations; 
and then shall the end come.” We are now liv¬ 
ing in what is preeminently the day of salvation 
for all the world. The dissemination of the 
knowledge of the true God among all nations 
upon the inhabitable globe is to be effected 
through the gospel, and that before the end. 
By the “end,” Jesus clearly referred to his com- 


236 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


ing and the end of the world, as will be seen by 
a comparison of Matt. 24: 3, 14. 

Before the death of the first apostles, it is 
plainly stated that the gospel had already 
sounded “in all the earth” and “was preached 
to every creature under heaven.” Of course, 
we are to understand this as referring to the 
then-known civilized world. 

The diffusion of the knowledge of the Lord 
has been progressive throughout the entire 
Christian era. It first spread to the limits of 
the Roman Empire, and gradually, like leaven, 
it has been reaching out to all the nations of the 
earth. We are now living in a day and time 
when the entire globe has been circumnavigated. 
The great waters of the Atlantic and Pacific 
and Indian Oceans have been crossed and re- 
crossed. The Arctic and Antarctic Oceans 
have been penetrated by modern sea vessels. 
Nearly every country on earth and every island 
of the sea has been explored. Such great na¬ 
tions and countries as China, India, Japan, and 
Africa are today opening their doors to the 
gospel, and with outstretched arms are calling 
for salvation from sin. By the aid of the mod¬ 
ern printing-press and our swift means of con¬ 
veyance, the knowledge of the true God is rap- 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


237 


idly filling all the earth. Millions of copies of 
the Bible are being printed and distributed in 
all parts of the world. Tons of pure gospel 
literature are being sent everywhere; while a 
host of self-sacrificing ministers are going forth 
having “the everlasting gospel to preach to them 
that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, 
and kindred and tongue and people” (Rev. 
14:6). 

Thus the prophecy of Habakkuk is being 
fulfilled in the dispensation in which we now 
live. This being true, why look for another 
which will never come? 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN?* 

Those who believe in Jesus Christ as the only 
hope of salvation for men are confronted with 
this stupendous question: “What about the 
heathen?” This problem, which involves the 
present condition and the future destiny of 
hundreds of millions of people who have never 
heard of Christ, has been the subject of special 

*This chapter was written by F. G. Smith. 




238 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


inquiry, and has also received a variety of 
answers. 

Some earnestly maintain that since this great 
mass of earth’s population, past and present, 
have never known the gospel of Christ, they are 
therefore irresponsible and will finally be saved 
because of their ignorance. Others maintain 
that voluntary acceptance of Christ on the part 
of intelligent beings is at all times essential to 
salvation, and that since the heathen have no 
such opportunities in this life they must of ne¬ 
cessity have a chance of salvation after death, 
or in an age to come. Many theories of the mil¬ 
lennium are strongly intrenched in this posi¬ 
tion. Others declare that the present dispensa¬ 
tion of grace offers the only hope of mercy for 
fallen men, therefore all who die in sin—whether 
they ever heard of Christ or not—are forever 
lost. 

In our consideration of this subject of the 
heathen we should have an earnest and sincere 
desire to find the truth. It is obvious that in 
such a discussion mere sentiment is altogether 
out of place. The human mind naturally shud¬ 
ders and recoils from the frightful spectacle of 
millions of people plunging without hope into 
the blackness of darkness forever, but we should 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


239 


remember that our feelings have nothing to do 
with the facts one way or the other. If such 
is to be their doom, our feelings and sentiments 
to the contrary will avail nothing. This vast 
host will not be saved in their ignorance simply 
because we should like to have it so; neither will 
a future age of blessedness—a second probation 
—open up before them because of our reason¬ 
ings to the effect that such an opportunity of 
salvation should be given. Such things as these 
belong to the counsels and purposes of Almighty 
God, and if we would know his will, we should 
approach the secret place of his tabernacle 
with deepest humility and reverence, and with 
fear and trembling. 

The subject under consideration naturally 
divides into two sections, under two headings: 
(1) The present state and condition of the 
heathen; (2) Their final destiny. This sub¬ 
ject, however, is not an independent theme that 
can be settled by itself, but is simply part of a 
greater subject that involves the entire race, an 
understanding of which can only be obtained 
by a careful examination of the natural consti¬ 
tution of man as a moral being, placed on pro¬ 
bation, under the reign of the moral govern¬ 
ment of God. 


240 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


THE MORAL GOVERNMENT OF GOD 

The general idea of government is control— 
control exercised for the purpose of maintain¬ 
ing order. Such control may be effected by di¬ 
rect compulsion, by an understanding of nat¬ 
ural consequences, or by the persuasive influence 
of moral motives. That form of law which 
reigns in the material creation is compulsion— 
definite and uniform causes being of necessity 
followed by uniform results. This is the law of 
constraint. In the realm of animate creation, 
the sensations of pleasure and pain give rise 
to a rule of conduct in view of certain foreseen 
results. Thus the knowledge that violence, in¬ 
temperance, and licentiousness are sure to react 
upon the transgressor, exerts a powerful in¬ 
fluence in determining conduct. This is the law 
of restraint . But moral law and government is 
a persuasive influence; “it is a government by 
laws or rules addressed to the reason, by moral 
motives which appeal to the conscience, and by 
moral sanctions which appeal to the emotions.” 
It is a system through which God has revealed 
his will to man, and in man, and taught him what 
is right and what is wrong; a system under which 
man is endowed with the power to perceive the 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


241 


inherent righteousness of God’s law and to real¬ 
ize its claims upon him, to feel his duty and re¬ 
sponsibility, owing to his power of self-deter¬ 
mination and choice; a system under which per¬ 
sonal character is formed, with the certain as¬ 
surance that virtue will receive its reward and 
sinful character its merited punishment. 

Dr. Cocker has drawn the true distinction be¬ 
tween the terms “natural” and “moral,” in these 
words: “The terms natural and moral are em¬ 
ployed to denote opposite modes of action and 
classes of effects. In the one case the mode of 
action is fixed and uniform, and the effect is 
necessary; in the other case the mode of action 
is free and volitional, and the effect is contingent 
and variable. The first is the order of nature 
where force reigns, the second is the order of 
moral life where freedom prevails. . . . That 
which lies within the agent’s power, and to which 
he determines himself by an act of free choice; 
and especially that which the agent knows he 
ought to do, and in choosing which he is con¬ 
scious of power to put forth, in the same un¬ 
changed circumstances, a different volition in¬ 
stead, is called moral” 

From this definition it will be seen that moral 
pertains to persons , and not to things. A pas- 


242 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


sive, unconscious object in nature possesses no 
moral quality whatever. But personality is 
responsible because it is intelligent and free, 
therefore the acts of personality that result 
from deliberate choice necessarily possess moral 
quality. However, all the acts of men are not 
personal, responsible acts. Sensation is not sub¬ 
ject to the will; the action of the heart is not 
voluntary; perception of objects with which 
we come in contact is unavoidable; and reflex 
nervous action is involuntary. A responsible 
action is one that involves the will, hence we may 
say that moral acts are such as are intentional. 

Another important distinction, drawn by 
Sewell, in his work on Christian Morals, is that 
morality is the relation of person to person. 
“The peculiar distinction of moral actions, mor¬ 
al character, moral principles, moral habits, as 
contrasted with the intellectual and other parts 
of man’s nature, lies in this, that they always 
imply a relation between two persons.” 

The moral government of God, therefore, re¬ 
lates to personality, the relation of person to 
person—human with human, and the human 
with the divine. This leads me to the next im¬ 
portant point. 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


243 


THE FOUNDATION OF DIVINE GOVERNMENT 

Most of the governments of earth rest on an 
unnatural basis, for they have been founded by 
intrigue and bloody conquest, under the as¬ 
sumed proposition that “might makes right.” 
Rights thus obtained are defective and false, and 
such a foundation must ever be uncertain. But 
the laws of the divine government do not rest 
upon such an unnatural and unphilosophical 
basis; they are not founded in conquest, pur¬ 
chase, or arbitrary power; therefore this gov¬ 
ernment possesses no source of weakness, no ele¬ 
ments of wrong, hence it can not possibly fail 
or become inefficient. It rests upon the solid 
foundation of nature , upon the correlation ex¬ 
isting between God and man. 

In the Scripture God is sometimes called a 
king, which term belongs to the highest secular 
authority on earth; his creatures are his sub¬ 
jects, and to them he dispenses wise and just 
laws, and of them he requires obedience. This 
comparison fitly describes one aspect of God’s 
relations with men, but it utterly fails to convey 
the whole truth. The bond between a king and 
his subjects is a single one—the bond of author¬ 
ity and subjection. This bond is maintained by 


244 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


arbitrary power. But the relation between God 
and his intelligent creatures is a natural and 
necessary one—the relation of a father and his 
children; “for we are also his off¬ 
spring” (Acts 17:28). All earthly forms 
of authority are accidental and official, created 
by men for their own purposes, and may be 
modified or abrogated, but the authority of a 
father over his child is established by God in 
nature . The kingship of God is a mere symbol; 
but that he is “the Father of spirits” (Heb. 
12:9) is a divine reality. Man was created “in 
the image of God” (Gen. 1:27). This “image” 
can not refer directly to bodily form, or to the 
qualities or attributes of matter, for “God is a 
Spirit”; therefore we conclude that the spirit 
of man is the only thing capable of bearing any 
real resemblance to the Almighty. The perfec¬ 
tions and attributes of the divine One—om¬ 
niscience, omnipotence, infinite love, and absolute 
holiness—are mirrored in the personality of 
man finitely as intelligence , will , affection, and 
conscience. In proportion as these are developed 
according to their own inherent nature, they 
reflect the character of God. 

This fact of spiritual relationship is so clear¬ 
ly evident that no part of the human race has 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


245 


ever lacked the consciousness of the divine, and 
of our absolute dependence on and obligation to 
this unseen Power. It is onty those who do 
not like “to retain God in their knowledge” that 
turn from him altogether; it is the fool that 
says in his heart, “There is no God.” But 
these frantic efforts of men to cut off their re¬ 
lations with God by a sort of moral suicide only 
impress us more deeply with the fact that we 
really stand related to a moral Governor of the 
universe. This conviction inspired the poets of 
old. Cleanthes, the Greek Stoic philosopher, 
300 B. C., wrote: 

•‘Thou art able to enforce obedience from all frail 
mortals, 

Because we are all thine offspring." 

And Aratus, a Greek poet, who flourished 
about 270 B. C., wrote the verse which was 
quoted in part by Paul in his address to the 
Athenians: 

“Jove's presence fills all space, upholds this ball; 

All need his aid, his power sustains us all— 

For we his offspring are." 

This universal consciousness of relationship 
with and dependence on the Divine forms the 
basis of all religion. Man who is the “offspring 


246 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


of God” knows that God is , and can also know 
to a considerable degree what he is. The prin¬ 
ciple of causality which naturally exists in man 
points unerringly to the great Creator. A 
heathen, as well as a philosopher, knows that 
from nothing, nothing comes, that every effect 
must have an efficient cause. Reason can not 
rise out of unreason; activity out of unactivity; 
consciousness out of unconsciousness; right¬ 
eousness, love, and justice do not come from 
nothingness. And this is also the argument of the 
Scriptures. “He that planted the ear, shall he 
not hear and he that formed the eye, shall he 
not see?” Man’s knowledge of what he is con¬ 
vinces him that the First Cause of his existence 
is not lacking in those qualities which make up 
his essential nature; in fact, his finite moral per¬ 
sonality points to and suggests, with unfailing 
logic, the existence of an infinite Personality, 
perfect in intelligence, freedom, power, wisdom, 
and goodness. 


MORAL SUBJECTS 

Having observed that the foundation of di¬ 
vine government rests in the paternal relation¬ 
ship that God sustains toward his intelligent 
creatures, and having also examined briefly the 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


247 


nature of this administration, we shall now con¬ 
sider the necessary condition of the subjects of 
such a system of moral jurisdiction. This in¬ 
volves five things: (I) Moral Nature; (II) 
Moral Relations; (III) Moral Obligations; 
(IV) Moral Law; (V) Duty. 

I Moral Nature—A moral government can 
not exist without moral subjects. Government 
signifies control of something or somebody, 
therefore moral government implies control of 
moral beings. But beings must possess a moral 
nature before they can be the subjects of moral 
government. Now moral nature implies three 
things—intelligence, conscience, and freedom of 
choice. 

1. Intelligence .—Intelligence includes self- 
knowledge—elementary ideas and first truths, 
which are the foundation of all knowledge—also 
all knowledge received through the senses. Also 
all knowledge gained by reason and reflection be¬ 
longs to the intelligence of moral beings. 

#. Conscience .—A moral being must also 
have the faculty of conscience, for without this 
there could be no responsibility for moral con¬ 
duct. There has been some misunderstanding in 
regard to the exact nature of conscience, there- 


248 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


fore the definitions of this faculty are various. 
After considering the matter carefully, the best 
and simplest definition I am able to give is: 
The consciousness of moral distinctions and 
qualities in human actions—that a standard of 
right and wrong exists—accompanied hy a feel¬ 
ing that we ought to conform to that standard. 
Approbation or condemnation is the mere re¬ 
sult of this inward conviction and feeling that 
we ought to conduct ourselves in a particular 
way. 

This is substantially the definition of con¬ 
science given by Butler: “Conscience is that 
power of mind which, recognizing the relations, 
discovers moral quality in actions, and enforces 
the obligation, producing pleasure upon com¬ 
pliance, and pain upon violation.” Dr. Cocker 
says: “A mere state of the sensibility—a mere 
feeling of approbation or disapprobation—does 
not constitute conscience until it is informed 
by the reason. Conscience is the unity of feel¬ 
ing and reason in a judgment which has respect 
to voluntary action” 

It is this fact; namely, that conscience stands 
related to the intellect of man, that has pro¬ 
duced such a vast amount of confusion in prac¬ 
tical life. Conscience is true to itself and never 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


249 


fails to give a proper decision. Conscience 
never urged an individual to do what he at the 
time knew to be wrong. But the knowledge of 
what is really right and wrong is so dependent 
upon the relations of the individual that he can 
easily be mistaken, which will lead conscience 
to decide for the w T rong act. In other words, 
conscience is dependent for its action upon the 
light received by the individual, and enforces 
whatever law is laid upon it. Paul testifies, “I 
verily thought with myself, that I ought to do 
many things contrary to the name of Jesus of 
Nazareth” (Acts 26:9), and this he did with 
“all good conscience toward God” (chap. 23: 
1) ; but he was mistaken in the object of his 
acts. Paul’s sin did not consist in obeying his 
conscience at that time, but he was responsible 
because he did not examine the ground of its 
operation in order that he might understand 
things in their true light. 

3. Freedom of Choice .—An individual might 
possess intelligence and knowledge, but if he 
did not have that particular faculty that en¬ 
ables him to discern the moral quality of actions, 
he could no more do right or wrong than can 
an animal. And even though he be able to 
discern moral quality, one thing more is neces- 


250 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


sary to constitute him a moral being—he must 
have the power to choose. Without this power 
his acts are neither good nor bad, for they pos¬ 
sess no more moral quality than do the move¬ 
ments of an electric motor or of a water-wheel; 
he is a mere machine, acting only as he is acted 
upon. Power of choice is therefore absolutely 
essential to man’s responsibility and moral char¬ 
acter. His actions are caused by some one, and 
the real author of these actions—whether man, 
God, or the devil—is the responsible party in 
the case. Therefore, if man is to possess moral 
character and responsibility, causality must re¬ 
side in him. It does not matter if we are unable 
to explain fully the true nature of this causal¬ 
ity—causal forces in nature also elude our in¬ 
vestigations—the facts remain just the same. 
Either the will of man is inherently free to act 
in view of different alternatives, or else it is 
not free. If freedom of action is its heritage 
from God its author, then man is entirely re¬ 
sponsible for his moral conduct; but if the ac¬ 
tion of the will is conditioned on something out¬ 
side of itself, then there is no way under heaven 
to evade the conclusion that diminution of free 
action is an abatement of responsibility. This 
point is vital, for with the removal of human 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


251 


responsibility the whole system of moral govern¬ 
ment breaks dowij. 

Objections to the doctrine of free will are 
many, and I feel disposed to give attention to 
a few of them on account of the supreme im¬ 
portance of this subject in dealing with the mat¬ 
ter in hand. The present condition and the 
eternal destiny, not alone of the heathen, but 
of all men, is at stake in this one doctrine of the 
will. 

Some tell us that freedom of will is incom¬ 
prehensible. So, also, all original causality in 
nature is unknown and, so far as we can see, 
unknowable. The idea that the will of man is 
necessitated by some power outside of itself is 
still more of a mystery, for it denies all our 
known powers, and contradicts the universal 
consciousness and practise. All legislation, 
human and divine, proceeds on the assumption 
that man is responsible because of an inherent 
power of choice. This is true in practise, even 
among those people whose theology commits 
them to the doctrine of fatalism. No diffi¬ 
culties are removed and no light is furnished by 
denying the freedom of the will. 

Others declare that it would be inconsistent 
for God to invest causality in a creature, there- 


252 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


by rendering him capable of exerting his will 
against God, sinning at his own pleasure, and 
disturbing the order of the universe. But do 
we not find in nature forces which we can not 
explain, the utility of which we can not deny? 
If it was God’s will to create such responsible 
beings, why should we be so greatly concerned 
about it? For a finite creature to call in ques¬ 
tion the utility of the divine plans and arrange¬ 
ments, and sit in judgment upon what the divine 
freedom should allow, is but little short of 
blasphemy. The stubborn fact is that sin is 
here, and the moral order of the universe is 
disturbed. Either the will of man is free and 
he is therefore responsible for this thing; or else 
his will is necessitated, he is innocent, and the 
responsibility rests upon God. Those who hes¬ 
itate to admit the element of free causality in 
man lest it should detract from or act in oppo¬ 
sition to the divine honor and glory, thus be¬ 
come (though ofttimes unconsciously) the de¬ 
fenders of a system of fatalism which charges 
all the moral evils of the universe upon a holy 
God who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil, 
and canst not look on iniquity” (Hab. 1: 13). 
We shall show later that freedom of will on the 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


258 


part of man is essential to the highest glory of 
God in his creative works. 

It is often urged against the freedom of the 
will that all the so-called volitions of men are 
foreknown by the Almighty, therefore they can 
not be free. In this it is assumed that all the 
acts of men are marked out in advance and 
therefore foreknown, and that this fact ever 
afterward prohibits a current discretionary 
choice. Some of the greatest errors in theology 
have originated in this idea of the predestina¬ 
tion of human acts, leading to the most ruinous 
fatalism. The fundamental error in such a view 
is the failure to distinguish between foreknowl¬ 
edge and causality. Knowledge is never causal - 
ity. We know of an event which occurred last 
week, but our knowledge did not cause it. The 
knowledge is altogether dependent on the event, 
not the event on the knowledge. If the event 
had been different, our knowledge concerning it 
would have been different. So also the knowl¬ 
edge of an event which will occur next week, or 
next year, does not cause it. Its cause may be 
certain forces operating uniformly in nature, 
or it may be the choice of a free agent, but in 
either case knowledge must be as the event. The 
operating cause, whatever it may be, is what 


254 , 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


makes the event certain, and this is the condition 
of God’s foreknowledge concerning it. It is 
unnecessary for us to attempt an explanation 
as to how God can foreknow events. He may 
know the future directly, immediately, but his 
method is mysterious to us. 

Coming to the positive side, we have many 
proofs in favor of the doctrine of freedom of 
the will. Man himself is a sort of trinity, com¬ 
posed of intellect, sensibility, and will. In the 
departments of intellect and sensibility we have 
certain original, elementary ideas, and we nat¬ 
urally expect to find the same law and original 
ground of action in the department of the will. 

So also the nature of motives imply freedom 
of choice. Motive is not the cause but a con¬ 
dition of volition. The mind acts upon the 
motives, choosing between them, but in making 
such choice is conscious of the ability to put 
forth under the same circumstances a different 
volition instead. 

Again, the feeling of personal responsibility 
declares the same freedom of choice. Our dis¬ 
tinct feelings of regret or of satisfaction occa¬ 
sioned by past events have no other explanation 
than the consciousness that we were directly 
responsible for them and could have made a 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


2 55 


different choice. The same thing is true of our 
present and future acts. 

So also the sharp distinction in our conscious¬ 
ness between virtue and vice rests upon this 
foundation of freedom, for without free choice 
neither would be possible. The animal, which 
acts by instinct, without intelligence and con¬ 
science, can not possibly have that state of feel¬ 
ing which we have with respect to vice and 
virtue. 

Freedom of the will agrees with the common 
consciousness of the race. We are aware of our 
own mental choice, but of nothing back of it. 
We consider motives, but always with the feel¬ 
ing that choice rests with us and that the mind 
is itself responsible for this decision. This is 
nature , and nature can not lie. And this per¬ 
sonal consciousness of freedom is sustained by 
universal history and literature, and by all the 
political and civil institutions of society; for 
everywhere and at all times they recognize this 
fundamental truth in human nature. 

This doctrine of freedom is also taught 
throughout the Bible. The entire subject of 
sin, atonement, and salvation is predicated upon 
it. The injunctions, threatenings, and prom¬ 
ises are at all times and everywhere based upon 


256 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


this universal law. Voluntary obedience is en¬ 
joined, and penalties are inflicted on the ground 
of voluntary disobedience. The conditions upon 
which salvation is promised and provided clearly 
set forth this freedom of the will. The will is 
the only hindrance: “As many as received him 
to them gave he power to become the sons of 
God” (John 1:12); “and ye will not come to 
me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40). All 
are invited through the will: “If any man 
thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 
7: 37) ; “whosoever will , let him take the water 
of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). In addition to 
this we have many positive statements: “I have 
set before you life and death, blessing and curs¬ 
ing: therefore choose life” (Deut. 30:19); 
“choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Josh. 
24:15); “they have chosen their own ways ” 
(Isa. 66:3); there were freewill offerings unto 
the Lord under the Mosaic dispensation (Ezra 
3:5); and priests and Levites were “minded of 
their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem” (Ezra 
7:13). 

Thus we find that moral agents must have 
intelligence, conscience, and will; and since these 
all reside in man, we have proof positive that 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


257 


he has a moral nature and is therefore a proper 
subject of moral government. 

II Moral Relations.—The term “moral gov¬ 
ernment” implies a certain relationship which 
moral beings sustain to each other. If a being 
were so situated that he sustained no relations 
whatever with any other being, he would be 
under no obligation. Moral relations imply that 
beings are so situated that they affect or can 
affect one another, and the moral government 
of God assumes such relations of men with men 
and of men with God. 

III Moral Obligations—Obligation is a 
natural law, or impulse, of our being. We im¬ 
mediately recognize and feel the claims of others 
upon us, and we feel that we must respond. The 
ground of this obligation is not self-interest, 
although some able writers have contended for 
this view. We can not accept the idea that 
the standard of morality is universal selfishness. 
The crying of a child or the unfortunate condi¬ 
tion of a helpless invalid makes a claim upon 
us, and immediately we feel an impulse to act, 
when it is certain that no selfish interests are 
involved. Nor is obligation founded on prin¬ 
ciples of general utility, arbitrary commands, 


258 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


or the mere happiness of beings; it rests in the 
nature of man’s being and the relation which 
he sustains to God and to his creatures. The 
reason why the child should love and obey his 
parents is not because of self-interests, arbi¬ 
trary commands, or a desire for the genera] 
welfare of the community, but because of the re* 
lationship which he sustains to his parents. All 
other considerations are secondary. Now God 
has created man with a moral nature, therefore 
man feels bound to do just what God and his 
own true nature requires, and what his relations 
with God and with men demand. In other words, 
we are to love God “ because of what God is , 
and what we are .” 

IV Moral Laws.—Law is a method of force, 
and, as we have already noticed, moral law is a 
persuasive influence, an authoritative direction, 
addressed to our moral nature in such a man¬ 
ner that it receives the approbation of our con¬ 
science. It is a rule of conduct. Now a rule of 
conduct is given ..by one to whom obligation is 
due, and the authority of this rule is dependent 
on the nature and extent of the obligation. 
Governments command us, and we feel that we 
should obey; parents supply a rule of conduct, 
and we feel it our duty to comply therewith; but 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


259 


God gives us the supreme law. And this brings 
us to the next point. 

V Duty.—Duty is obedience to the law, 
compliance with the laws of being. There is a 
difference between obligation and duty, for ob¬ 
ligation, as we have seen, rests in the nature of 
things, whereas duty is that obedience which we 
owe to the law. 

DIVINE GOVERNMENT UNIVERSAL 

Now as all men are moral beings, the claims 
of divine government are universal; and here we 
come to that phase of the subject which di¬ 
rectly involves the heathen. There never has 
been a time when any nation of the earth has 
been outside of the realm of divine government. 
“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness there¬ 
of ; the world, and they that dwell therein” 
(Psa. 24:1). “The Lord hath prepared his 
throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth 
over all” (Psa. 103: 19). The idea that some 
of God’s intelligent creatures in the past, as well 
as some in the darkest corners of the earth at 
present, are not under law and have no obliga¬ 
tion to worship God, is at variance with sound 
reason as well as contrary to the plain teaching 
of the Word of God on the subject. Let us 


200 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


apply to the heathen the five principles we have 
already considered as essential to a subject of 
the divine government, and thus determine their 
present state and condition. 

First of all, we shall observe that the heathen, 
as well as all other men in all ages, are con¬ 
scious that they are moral beings. They pos¬ 
sess intelligence , conscience , and will, which 
three things are essential to a moral nature. 

Second , They are conscious of the fact that 
they sustain moral relations to each other and 
to God. They have never lost sight of the fact 
that there is a moral Governor of the universe 
and that they are responsible to him. “For the 
invisible things of him from the creation of the 
world are clearly seen, being understood by the 
things that are made, even his eternal power 
and Godhead; so that they are without excuse ” 
(Rom. 1: 20). So clear is the nature of this re¬ 
lationship with God that they look up to the 
Divine with the feeling that they are “his off¬ 
spring.” 

Third , The inward conviction of this relation¬ 
ship is the ground of those moral obligations 
that are everywhere manifested in the disposi¬ 
tion to reverence and worship God. Man simply 
feels that he must do this. A greater and more 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


2G1 


convincing proof of obligation could not be 
given. 

Fourth , But are the heathen under moral law? 
We answer unhesitatingly, Yes. Moral law, 
as we have seen, is a rule of conduct given by 
the one to whom obligation is due. But moral 
law is the law of being—it exists in the nature of 
things and is therefore revealed subjectively in 
the human consciousness. No human legisla¬ 
tion, and no divine objective revelation, was 
necessary to make clear the greater laws of 
being. (Objective revelation has for its spe¬ 
cific purpose the unfolding of a plan of redemp¬ 
tion.) In all ages and in every dark corner of 
the earth there has been a clear distinction in 
the human consciousness between justice and in¬ 
justice, truth and falsehood, love and cruelty. 
Even the lowest savages (whatever their practise 
may be) regard stealing, adultery, murder, and 
other sinful acts, as crimes and worthy of pun¬ 
ishment. Livingstone, the explorer, states that 
“on questioning intelligent men among the 
Backwains as to their former knowledge of good 
and evil, of God, and of a future state, they 
have scouted the idea of any of them ever hav¬ 
ing been without a tolerably clear conception 
on all these subjects. Respecting their sense 


262 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


of right and wrong, they profess that nothing 
we indicate as sin ever appeared to them other¬ 
wise, except the statement that it was wrong to 
have more wives than one.” 

As Sophocles has said: 

“The unwritten laws of God that know not change; 

They are not of today nor yesterday, 

But live forever. ” 

The testimony of Cicero, a pagan, proves 
conclusively the universality of the divine gov¬ 
ernment—that all men are moral beings, placed 
under moral law. Says he: “There is one true 
and original law, conformable to nature and 
reason, diffused over all, invariable, eternal, 
which calls to the fulfilment of duty and to ab¬ 
stinence from injustice, and which calls with 
that irresistible voice which is felt in all its 
authority wherever it is heard. This law can 
not be controlled or abolished, nor affected in 
its sanctions by any law of man. A whole sen¬ 
ate, a whole people, can not dispense with its 
paramount obligation. It requires no com¬ 
mentator to render it distinctly intelligible, nor 
is it different at Rome, at Athens, now and in 
ages before and after, but in all ages and in all 
nations it is and has been and will be one and 
everlasting—one as that God, its author and 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


263 


promulgator, who is the common Sovereign of 
all mankind, is himself one. Man is truly man 
as he yields himself to this divine influence. He 
can not resist it but by flying, as it were, from 
his own bosom, and laying aside the general 
feelings of humanity.” 

But we also have the testimony of divine reve¬ 
lation on this subject. “For when the Gentiles, 
which have not the law [the written law] do by 
nature the things contained in the law, these, 
having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 
which show the work of the law written in their 
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, 
and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or 
else excusing one another” (Rom. 2:14, 15). 
No clearer statement of subjective moral laws, 
connected with a moral nature, could be given. 

Fifth , Duty .—The fact of moral law neces¬ 
sitates duty. The universal consciousness of sin 
proves that the heathen understand their duty 
and do it not. They do not understand all that 
we who are blessed with an additional revelation 
understand, but while they do not have this ob¬ 
jective law it is not their duty to fulfil it. Their 
duty pertains to obedience to that law which 
they already have. The apostle Paul, after de¬ 
claring that through nature “the eternal power 


264 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


and Godhead” is known to the heathen, “so that 
they are without excuse,” proceeds to say: 
“When they knew God, they glorified him not as 
God”; and “even as they did not like to retain 
God in their knowledge, God gave them over to 
a reprobate mind” (Rom. 1:20, 21, 28). 

The grand argument of Paul in the Roman 
letter is to prove that all men are sinners, in 
order that he may set forth Christ as the uni¬ 
versal Savior and the world’s only hope. The 
texts already cited show that the Gentiles, or 
heathen, were sinners because of their disobey¬ 
ing the unwritten laws of their own nature. He 
then accuses the Jews of breaking their written 
law, in order to fix the charge of sin upon them 
also. His conclusion is found in these words: 
“We have before proved both Jews and Gentiles , 

THAT THEY ARE ALL UNDER SIN.” “For ALL 

have sinned, and come short of the glory of 
God ” (Rom. 3:9, 23). 

We have now shown, by reason and by Scrip¬ 
ture, that the heathen possess moral responsi¬ 
bility, that they know their duty and do it not, 
therefore they are sinners. But there are some 
other important considerations to which we 
must give attention before we pass final judg- 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


265 


ment upon the state and condition of the heathen 
world. 


PURPOSE OF MORAL GOVERNMENT 

The object of moral government is to place 
finite, intelligent creatures on probation, where 
opportunity can be had for the formation of 
moral character. Moral character can not be 
made by creative effort; it must be developed by 
the individual himself. Some one has said that 
“a man can no more become virtuous without 
the discipline of the will than he can become 
intelligent without the discipline of the under¬ 
standing.” The experience of Eden proves that 
character-forming is wholly in the power of the 
individual, and it also proves that men are not 
safe without such discipline. 

Some people are so rash as to criticize God’s 
method of government. They want to know 
why God does not or can not by an act of his 
almighty power banish sin and the possibility 
of sin from his universe. Such persons do not 
know what they are saying. The only way God, 
by an act of power, could prevent man from 
sinning, would be to reconstruct him so that 
he would be without any moral sense of right or 
wrong, or rob him of all freedom of action so 


266 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


that he would no longer be a rational being. God 
has already created many creatures which are 
utterly incapable of sinning. Would man be 
willing to exchange places with the snails and 
the crocodiles? But God’s nature is such that 
he loves moral character, he delights in that 
which has affinity with himself, therefore he 
created man “in his own image, after his like¬ 
ness.” The capacity to know, to love, to enjoy, 
and to freely choose that which is right, is what 
pleases God, and it is this kind of service—an 
intelligent, willing service—that reflects the 
highest honor and glory in all the creation of 
God. 

So, then, the moral government of God is a 
probationary economy in view of a future life. 
All men are being subjected to the trials, 
changes, and experiences of this life in order 
to test their principles and form their settled 
character. Therefore the possibility of dis¬ 
obedience and sin inheres in the nature of all 
finite moral beings. 

There is one feature of this probation which 
is comforting to us in view of the moral condi¬ 
tion of the world, and that is the knowledge that 
God is just and will treat all men equitably. 
Ability is the measure of responsibility. “Where 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


267 


no law is, there is no transgression” (Rom. 
4: 15). Christ recognized this principle in the 
divine government—“If I had not come and 
spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now 
they have no cloak for their sin” (John 15: 22). 
Not that the Jews were without guilt of any 
kind before this time, but with respect to the 
light which Christ brought they had no previous 
obligation, hence no transgression. Again 
Christ said, “That servant which knew his lord’s 
will, and prepared not himself, neither did ac¬ 
cording to his will, shall be beaten with many 
stripes. But he that knew not , and did commit 
things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with 
few stripes” (Luke 12: 47, 48). 

The light which we have received rates our 
responsibility. “That sin by the commandment 
might become exceeding sinful” (Rom. 7:13). 
“Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall 
be much required” (Luke 12: 48). While Paul 
admits that much of the “ignorance” of the 
heathen God “winked at,” or overlooked, he does 
not admit that they are free from all respon¬ 
sibility and guilt}, for he argues that they 
knowingly violated the principles of right re¬ 
vealed in their own consciousness, when they 
gave themselves up to all manner of wicked- 


268 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


ness; that their civil laws stand as a proof that 
they understood the character of their crimes 
in that they themselves adjudged those who com¬ 
mitted such things as “worthy of death” (Rom. 
1: 32). We expect more of a man than we do 
of a child, and God expects more of a civilized 
man—blessed with golden opportunities and 
privileges—than he does of the poor savages of 
the earth. But greater light, if rejected, will 
bring greater condemnation. “Woe unto thee, 
Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the 
mighty works, which were done in you, had been 
done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have re¬ 
pented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I 
say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for 
Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for 
you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted 
unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell: for 
if the mighty works, which have been done in 
thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have re¬ 
mained until this day. But I say unto you, that 
it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom 
in the day of judgment, than for thee” (Matt. 
11:21-24). 

As there are degrees of light and responsibil¬ 
ity, so also there will be degrees of punish¬ 
ment. In the last great day rewards and pun- 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


269 


ishments will be meted out “according to our 
works.” It will be “more tolerable” for some 
than for others; some will receive “greater 
damnation.” 

Our heavenly Father understandeth all of 
the complicated relations of life, all about our 
advantages and disadvantages. “He knoweth 
our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” 
(Psa. 103: 14). “The Lord is good unto all; 
and his tender mercies are over all his works” 
(Psa. 145:9). And as he understands all about 
our light and ability, he knows how to fix the 
exact measure of our responsibility; therefore, 
we may rest assured that in the settling of all 
accounts ‘the Judge of all the earth will do 
right.’ 


ATONEMENT AND REDEMPTION 

The atonement of Christ and the fulfilment 
of his redemptive plan also concerns the pres¬ 
ent and the future state of the heathen. But 
here also we must observe that the subject of 
the heathen is only one phase of that greater 
subject wherein atonement and redemption have 
their application to all men. 

As we have already shown, the apostle Paul 
charged responsible sin upon the whole world, 


270 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


and thus prepared the way in his Roman letter 
for the doctrine of the universality of Christ’s 
atonement and redemptive work. In the fifth 
chapter the apostle exhibits a parallel between 
Adam and Christ, which he consistently main¬ 
tains both by similarity and by contrast. Adam 
is presented as the federal head of the natural 
creation; Christ is the head of a new and spiri¬ 
tual creation. Adam was the one by whom sin 
was introduced; Christ is the one by whom sin 
is conquered and destroyed. Adam was dis¬ 
obedient; Christ is obedient. Through Adam 
judgment came upon all men unto condemna¬ 
tion ; through Christ the free gift came for all 
men unto “justification of life.” By Adam came 
death; through Christ “they which receive 
abundance of grace and of the gift of right¬ 
eousness shall reign in life” 

Paul did not believe in a limited atonement. 
It remained for later theologians to argue that 
the atonement is applicable to only a certain 
select few. But the atonement of Christ is 
not exhausted by use. When a number have 
been saved, it is still just as efficacious to save 
others. If it is able to save any one, it is able 
to save every one. Universalists argue that 
since Christ’s atonement was for all, therefore 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


271 


all men will be finally saved, irrespective of con¬ 
ditions to be performed in this life. In reach¬ 
ing this conclusion, however, they make the seri¬ 
ous error of confounding atonement and re¬ 
demption. The atonement was for all, and un¬ 
conditional; but redemption signifies the work 
of God performed by Christ as a result of the 
atonement, and is, as we shall see, conditional. 

In this fifth chapter of Romans the doctrine 
of Paul is that Christ in his atonement counter¬ 
acts the direct effects of Adam’s sin; that just 
as all men are disposed to sin, through Adam’s 
fall, to that extent the atonement freely applies 
to all men. In other words, just as Adam sold 
the race under sin, Christ in his atonement has 
ransomed the entire race, and claims it for his 
own. But we must not misconstrue the apostle’s 
words in this chapter, as do Universalists, and 
give them a meaning which is out of harmony 
with the remainder of his teaching in this same 
epistle; for according to Paul, all the world has 
become guilty through personal sin, hence mer¬ 
its God’s judgment and punishment; therefore 
the only hope of final salvation is by a per¬ 
sonal acceptance of and belief in Jesus. 

This brings us again to the doctrines of the 
freedom of the will and of personal responsi- 


272 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


bility. Granting, without discussion, the well- 
established fact of inherent sin, or native de¬ 
pravity, I wish to say that the sins for which 
men are personally responsible are their own 
sins. Children do not plunge into the depths of 
depravity on reaching the age of moral re¬ 
sponsibility simply because they must sin. If 
the child at this age is impelled by some force 
over which he has no control, his acts possess 
no more moral quality than do the revolutions 
of a carriage wheel. To accept such an idea of 
force is to deny all personal sin and responsi¬ 
bility. Such an idea is contrary to the teaching 
of Scripture and to the common consciousness 
of our race. I assert, without fear of success¬ 
ful contradiction, that there is no sin in the 
entire catalog of sin that the child at this 
period must commit. If you ask me, then, to 
account for the universality of sin, I reply that 
the inclinations and promptings of the evil na¬ 
ture within, in conjunction with the tempta¬ 
tions and examples of wrong-doing without, 
constantly present such powerful motives that 
(as the past history of men clearly shows) the 
individual of his own will finally chooses to do 
something that he at the time knows to be 
wrong, feels that he should not do, and is con- 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


278 


scious that he is not compelled to do. And 
this thought, that he yielded to something that 
he was not obliged to yield to, is what occa¬ 
sions the feelings of responsibility and guilt. 
But no person ever descended into the depths 
of sin without first experiencing a struggle with 
his moral nature and conscience. 

A simple illustration, although not entirely 
parallel, may serve to make clearer the reason 
why men commit sin when they are not posi¬ 
tively compelled to do so. We will suppose that 
one hundred hungry men are about to be 
ushered into a dining-room where an abundance 
of food is waiting. We must admit that each 
one has the power of refusing to partake of this 
food; but when we consider the powerful ap¬ 
peals of nature within, and the favorable cir¬ 
cumstances from without, prompting them to 
yield to this inclination, we feel safe in predict¬ 
ing that every one of the number will choose to 
eat. 

To place the matter differently: The general 
uniformity of men as to their corporeal na¬ 
tures, dispositions, and habits, tend toward uni¬ 
formities of volition. This result Dr. Whedon 
has explained by the Doctrine of Probability, 
according to which uncertain or variable in- 


274 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


dividual acts become in the aggregate reliably 
certain; that is, distributive or individual free¬ 
dom resolves itself into collective necessity, so 
that what is true of specific individual acts is 
collectively untrue. The player at dice may at 
the first throw turn up a six. That this should 
occur twice in succession is improbable, but not 
altogether impossible. But there is still greater 
improbability of its occurring three times in 
succession; and so on in diminishing degrees. 
While there is exactly the same probability in 
each individual instance, yet, taken collectively, 
it becomes so exceedingly improbable that the 
same result should always occur that it amounts 
to a practical certainty that it can not occur. 
So also we may say that when men are con¬ 
stantly exposed to powerful temptations from 
which they have no protection, the probability 
that they will always resist the wrong becomes 
so exceedingly remote that it amounts to a 
practical certainty that they will not through 
their entire lifetime live without making a sin¬ 
gle wrong choice and thus committing sin. 

When men choose to do the acts of sin they 
form sinful habits, and these habits may in 
time utterly enslave them, but even in this case 
their will is not enslaved. A man can will any- 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


275 


thing , but where he may fail is in the power to 
accomplish what he knows he ought to do. “Can 
the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his 
spots? then may ye also do good, that are ac¬ 
customed to do evil” (Jer. 13:23). Men may 
will or desire “to do good,” but when they are 
“accustomed to,” or in the habit of, doing evil, 
they lack the power to effect the change. In 
Romans 7, Paul describes his law experience in 
which his desires for good were brought in con¬ 
flict with the law of sin that was in his members, 
and he says, “to will is present with me; but 
how to perform that which is good I find not” 
(v. 18). The fact that every offer of salva¬ 
tion is addressed to the will proves that, so long 
as reason itself remains, sin never robs an in¬ 
dividual of the ability to choose. 

The writer once had an experience with a 
person who was possessed with devils, which 
illustrates this point. When this individual 
was admonished to prepare for heaven, her face 
would gather blackness and an almost inde¬ 
scribable look of anguish and pain would seize 
upon her at the very thought of going to 
heaven. She declared she did not want to go 
there. When we attempted to warn her of the 
terrible dangers and punishments of hell, her 


276 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


face would light up with joy, and clapping her 
hands in glee she would say, “Oh, good! good! 
I will soon be in hell, where all the devils are.” 
But when the true ministers of Christ rebuked 
the devils in the name of the Lord Jesus, and 
cast them out, the lady was restored to her right 
mind, and stated that at the very time when the 
devils were talking through her, and declaring 
that she wanted to go to hell, in her own mind 
and thoughts she was anxiously desiring de¬ 
liverance and praying God to enable us to cast 
the devils out. She still had will , but was unable 
to help herself. Now people would not be re¬ 
sponsible for such a helpless condition if it were 
not for the fact that they are responsible for 
the first acts of sin which lead on to the forma¬ 
tion of those habits and conditions wherein they 
are helpless. And here is where the “power of 
God unto safvation” is manifested in the gos¬ 
pel. Our Lord breaks the power of sinful habits 
and sets people free. Praise his name! 

In his treatment of the atonement Paul rep¬ 
resents Christ as a universal Savior—“who is 
the Savior of all men , specially of 
those that believe” (1 Tim. 4:10). 
Christ has ransomed the whole race uncon¬ 
ditionally to the same extent that sin has af- 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


277 


fected the whole race unconditionally. But when 
men reach the age of moral responsibility and 
take upon themselves a sinful life, they are 
responsible for their own acts, and in so doing 
they take themselves out from under these un¬ 
conditional benefits of the atonement. The en¬ 
tire race naturally belongs to God, both by 
creative and by redemptive right; but under a 
system of moral government designed to pre¬ 
sent a probationary economy for the formation 
of moral character, the will of man is free to 
act, if it so chooses, even in opposition to the 
will of God. However, as has been said, “al¬ 
ternative power is a talent loaned out by God 
to man. But it is a talent which still belongs 
to God, for the proper or improper use of which 
man is accountable.” We can not accept that 
old idea propounded by Gregory of Nyssa, that 
the atonement was a ranson price paid to Satan 
for the release of his subjects. We fail to see 
where Satan has any real rights in the case. His 
subjects are all rebels against the government of 
God, and they must either return to their al¬ 
legiance voluntarily or be brought to account 
by the great Judge because of their sins. Those 
who return of their own volition, believing in 
Jesus Christ, receive his “special” salvation. 


278 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


The parable of the Prodigal Son illustrates 
this point. This wanderer was just as much 
the son of his father when he was away in the 
far country as he was when he was at home, but 
with this difference in results: That in volun¬ 
tarily departing from home he forfeited the 
rights and privileges of sonship, and he would 
have perished miserably in that condition if he 
had not come to himself and made the wise de¬ 
cision, “i will arise, and go to my father.” 
When he returned home, his father accorded him 
special favors. The fact of sonship was on his 
part unconditional, while possession of the 
rights and privileges of sonship were altogether 
conditional. 

Since the atonement of Christ embraces all 
who have descended from Adam, all infants be¬ 
long to Christ unconditionally—“o/ such is the 
kingdom of heaven”; but when they voluntarily 
depart from the right way, they forfeit these 
unconditional benefits and are in all legal re¬ 
spects “dead” to God; but when any individual 
voluntarily returns to God, believing in his 
name, Christ becomes to him a “special” Savior, 
saying, “This my son was dead , and is alive 
again; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:24). 

Atonement, then, was performed by Christ 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


279 


and is unconditional; redemption also centers in 
Christ, but, to the extent that the will of moral 
beings is involved in transgressing, is condi¬ 
tional. But Enoch, Noah, and a host of Old 
Testament saints and patriarchs had no knowl¬ 
edge of the historic Christ, and still we expect 
to see them in heaven because of the merits of 
that universal atonement, which, in their day, 
was yet to come. And if from motives of love, 
reverence, and obedience to that God whom he 
seeks and feels after, a heathen should decide 
with all his heart to turn from those things 
which he knows to be wrong, we can at least 
indulge the hope that, after all, he will be 
finally saved, as well as those Old Testament 
characters and myriads of infants who passed 
out of life without a personal knowledge of the 
historic Christ. “In every nation he that fear- 
eth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted 
with him” (Acts 10:35). However, judging 
from what we know of actual conditions among 
the heathen, we must admit that the probability 
of their salvation by this means is very limited 
indeed; so that we are safe in asserting that 
the hope of the heathen world lies in our im¬ 
parting to them the gospel of Jesus Christ, that 


280 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


they may really know the way of salvation and 
believe on his name to life everlasting. 

PROPHECIES AND PROMISES 

There are a number of prophecies and prom¬ 
ises in the Bible which appear to have a strong 
bearing on the subject of the heathen, and these 
are frequently urged in support of the idea that 
if the heathen are not evangelized in this life 
an opportunity of salvation is to be afforded 
them in an age to come. Lack of space pro¬ 
hibits an extensive examination of all the proph¬ 
ecies thus applied and interpreted, therefore I 
shall simply call attention to the strongest one 
bearing on the subject: the promise to Abra¬ 
ham— 4 ‘In thee shall all families of the earth be 
blessed” (Gen. 12:3). “And in thy seed shall 
all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 
22:18). The Abrahamic covenant is given in 
the following chapters of Genesis: 12:1-3; 
13:14, 15; 15:5, 18; 17:1-8; 22:18. On 
examination of these scriptures we find that 
the subject bifurcates, two great divisions being 
manifest. The first section relates to Abraham 
and his literal descendants—“I will multiply 
thee exceedingly”; “I will make of thee a great 
nation.” And connected with this, stands the 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


281 


promise of their literal inheritance of the land 
of Canaan—“Unto thy seed have I given this 
land.” The second division is of world-wide 
importance—“I will make thee a father of many 
nations”; “in thee shall all families of the earth 
be blessed”; “and in thy seed shall all the na¬ 
tions of the earth be blessed, because thou hast 
obeyed my voice.” 

The first section of this covenant, pertaining 
to Abraham’s literal descendants, does not con¬ 
cern us in this place, but we are interested in 
the second division. Where and when does it 
meet its fulfilment—under the gospel, during 
the gospel dispensation, or in some age to come? 
We will let the Word of God answer. “And the 
scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the 
heathen through faith , preached before the gos¬ 
pel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all na¬ 
tions be blessed” (Gal. 3:8). This text shows 
the manner of fulfilment of that promise to 
Abraham, that through the actual preaching of 
the gospel to the heathen, justification by faith 
results; which proves conclusively that its ful¬ 
filment is altogether conditional. Therefore 
every attempt to give this prediction an un¬ 
limited and unconditional application is false. 

The time when this promise was to reach its 


282 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


fulfilment is also given by inspiration. “For the 
promise that he should be the heir of the world, 
not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the 
law, but through the righteousness of faith. 
. . . Therefore it is of faith, that it might be 
by grace; to the end the promise might be sure 
to all the seed; not to that only which is of the 
law, but to that also which is of the faith of 
Abraham; who is the father of us all (as it is 
written, I have made thee a father of many na¬ 
tions)” (Rom. 4:13-17). 

The law age did not witness the fulfilment of 
this promise, for it was to be of faith, that it 
might apply to all those who are of the faith 
of Abraham; for “to Abraham and his seed were 
the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, 
as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, 
which is CHRIST.” “That the blessing of 
Abraham might come on the Gentiles through 
Jesus Christ; that we might receive the prom¬ 
ise of the Spirit through faith ” (Gal. 3:16). 
“7/ ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, 
and heirs according to the promise ” (Gal. 3:29). 

The “seed” of Abraham, though referring 
specifically to “Christ,” is in reality two-fold, 
and the “blessing” of Abraham on the nations 
also comes from this two-fold source. Through 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


283 


the literal seed of Abraham all divine revelation 
has been given to the world; and to his spiritual 
seed—“Christ”—and thus to the church—the 
gospel light and salvation has been given for 
promulgation among all nations. Many scrip¬ 
tures clearly indicate that Messiah’s kingdom in 
the gospel dispensation shall spread throughout 
the whole earth, and thus fulfil this promise to 
Abraham in its completest sense. “His domin¬ 
ion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the 
river even to the ends of the earth” (Zech. 9: 
10). “For the earth shall be filled with the 
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the 
waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14). The lit¬ 
tle stone of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, represent¬ 
ing the kingdom of Christ in this dispensation, 
shall yet “become a great mountain, and fill the 
whole earth ” (Dan. 2:35). Not that all men 
will be saved, for salvation is conditional, but 
“the knowledge of the glory of the Lord” shall 
be universal. For “this gospel of the kingdom 
shall be preached in all the world for a witness 
unto all nations ; and then shall the end 
come” (Matt. 24:14). So, then, the promise 
that in the seed of Abraham “all nations” should 
be blessed reaches its fulfilment under the gos¬ 
pel, before the end of time. 


284 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


NO PROBATION AFTER DEATH 

The general teaching of the Scriptures is to 
the effect that probation ends at death. “It is 
appointed unto men once to die, but after this 
the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). “That every one 
may receive the things done in his body, accord¬ 
ing to that he hath done, whether it be good or 
bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). “Ye shall seek me, and 
shall die in your sins: whither I go ye can not 
come” (John 8:21). “The wicked is driven 
away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath 
hope in his death” (Prov. 14:32). “When he 
dieth [the wicked man] ... he shall go to the 
generation of his fathers; they shall never see 
light ” (Psa. 49: 17-19). The account of Laz¬ 
arus and the rich man (Luke 16) is proof pos¬ 
itive that there is no hope of change after death. 
“Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: 
so that they which would pass from hence to you 
can not; neither can they pass to us, that would 
come from thence.” “Son, remember that thou 
in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things.” The 
question of the future was settled then. The 
special concern of the rich man for his five 
brethren on earth proves that there would be 
no hope for them either after their death; and, 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


285 


furthermore, the answer—“they have Moses and 
the prophets, let them hear them,” and “if they 
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will 
they be persuaded though one rose from the 
dead”—implies that in life all that was necessary 
in their case was being done. 

We have already clearly shown that all men 
are now on probation, since they are moral be¬ 
ings placed under moral law; and since every 
man’s responsibility is rated according to his 
understanding of the claims of moral law and his 
ability to comply therewith, there is no call for 
a new or second probation. Every man’s char¬ 
acter is definitely formed on this basis in this 
present lifetime, hence there could be no second 
probation without breaking down the character 
already formed and beginning over again. 

The apostle Paul settles this matter definitely 
in the same chapter where he shows conclusively 
the fact that the responsibility of the heathen is 
fixed by the moral law which is written in their 
hearts. “Who will render to every man accord¬ 
ing to his deeds . . . tribulation and anguish 
upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the 
Jew first, cmd also of the Gentile; but glory, 
honor, and peace, to every man that worketh 
good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 


286 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


for there is no respect of persons with God. 
For as many as have sinned without law shall 
also perish without law: and as many as have 
sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. 

. . . For when the Gentiles, which have 

not the law, do by nature the things con¬ 
tained in the law, these, having not the law, 
are a law unto themselves; which show the 
work of the law written in their hearts, 
their conscience also bearing witness ... in 
the day when God shall judge the secrets of 
men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” 
(Rom. 2: 6-16). There is no hope of a future 
probation for the heathen. They know their 
duty , as respects that law which they already 
have, and transgress voluntarily; and according 
to Paul, it is the doctrine of the gospel that 
Jesus Christ shall be the judge of all men— 
judging those who have sinned in the law, “by 
the law”; those who have sinned without law, 
“without law”; that is, by the unwritten law in 
their own hearts: while those who have had the 
gospel standard are held responsible according 
to its requirements. This method of judgment 
is just. However, the standard of judgment for 
all is, in reality, the same law—the moral law; 
that law which stands out prominently in the 


WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN? 


287 


New Testament—but its application differs, be¬ 
ing graduated on the scale of every man’s 
available light. 

In conclusion, I will notice one question that 
is frequently asked: “How can God be just in 
permitting millions who have never heard of 
Christ to go down to everlasting ruin, while he 
saves others?” This question does not even 
touch the facts. The mystery is not how God 
can be just and permit some to be lost with¬ 
out knowledge; the mystery of the gospel—the 
greatest mystery of all the ages—is how God 
can be just and save anybody , with or without 
knowledge. Justice naturally requires the exe¬ 
cution of penalty upon wrongdoers, hence sal¬ 
vation is no part of justice: it is altogether the 
work of mercy. The mystery of the atonement 
lies in the fact that in some marvelous manner 
the divine principle of justice is maintained and 
upheld while mercy and pardon is offered to 
guilty men. To confuse justice and mercy in 
our conception is a serious mistake, for it nat¬ 
urally leads to the erroneous idea that in sen¬ 
tencing men to destruction God is in some way 
loading upon them more than they deserve, and 
that to prevent this injustice, offers of mercy 
are absolutely necessary. The chief executive 


288 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


of a state or nation is under no legal obliga¬ 
tion to dispense pardons to criminals; he is 
rather under obligation to see that justice is 
enforced. And so far as we can see, God was 
under no direct obligation to provide salvation 
for anybody. We may say that his love re¬ 
quired this, but there is manifestly a difference 
between the persuasions and promptings of love 
and the legal demands of moral government. 
The moral order of the universe, the founda¬ 
tion and stability of the government of God 
itself, demands the operation of justice, there¬ 
fore in sentencing all men to their just deserts 
—to a punishment graduated on the scale of 
their available light—there is positively no ele¬ 
ment of injustice. 

When we carefully consider these thoughts, 
we can see that even if God purposed to offer 
salvation simply to a select few of the human 
race, this choice would not be an act of in¬ 
justice to the others, for it would in no sense 
make them worse than they would have been had 
he refused to make such offers to anybody. 
Understand, I am not teaching that God pur¬ 
posed to exclude anybody from his favors: I 
am seeking to exhibit justice in its true light. 
In such a case, however, we might feel that the 



WILL THERE BE ANOTHER CHANCE? 289 


Almighty manifested partiality toward his crea¬ 
tures. However, “with God there is no re¬ 
spect of persons.” Christ “tasted death for 
every man”; and it is not his will that any 
should “perish, but that all should come to 
repentance.” Therefore, although some men 
are saved, while others are lost—with or without 
knowledge of a salvation plan—God stands 
acquitted of all injustice; and so far as par¬ 
tiality is concerned, the divine plan of mercy 
and salvation is provided for all, and there can 
be no reflection on the divine character in this 
respect. Whatever responsibility exists for un¬ 
necessary loss in the heathen world, it attaches 
itself to the church because of its failure to 
stand uncorrupted during the ages, and to ex¬ 
tend its peaceful triumphs over all the nations 
under the shining sun. 


WILL THERE BE ANOTHER CHANCE? 

To this question some modern teachers an¬ 
swer yes, while the Bible positively answers no. 
The gospel of Jesus Christ offers the last hope 
of mercy to Adam’s fallen race; for when “this 
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all 



290 


CHRIST S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


the world for a witness unto all nations, then 
shall the end come.” This is true for a number 
of reasons: 

First , We are now living in the last dispensa¬ 
tion and age of time. This we have abundantly 
proved in previous chapters. With the closing 
of time, all opportunities of salvation will have 
forever passed. 

Second , Now is the day of salvation. In Isa. 
49: 8 we read of “an acceptable time,” a special 
“day of salvation,” the most propitious age of 
God’s grace to mankind. Paul, after quoting 
this text, clearly applies it, saying, “Behold 
now is the accepted time; behold now is the day 
of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:1,2). That there will 
be another day of salvation future is utterly 
refuted. Hear this, ye who now presume upon 
God’s mercy with a vain hope of being saved in 
an age to come, now is the accepted time; yes, 
now. O sinner, “now” is the day of salvation. 
In view of this fact, how weighty the injunction 
of the Almighty through the prophet—“Seek 
the Lord while he may be found.” This is not 
an idle dream or something to be trifled with, for 
it is the Holy Ghost that saith “today if you 
will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” 
(Heb. 3:7; Heb. 4:7). 


WILL THERE BE ANOTHER CHANCE ? 291 


Third , The provisions for salvation are now 
complete, and these provisions are universal in 
their application. Through Christ’s death on 
the cross a present, perfect salvation was pur¬ 
chased for the whole world. He “tasted death 
for every man.” He was “raised again for our 
justification.” Thus as a savior and redeemer 
of mankind, he was “vested with all power in 
heaven and in earth”; power to save, sanctify, 
and preserve unto his heavenly kingdom, all 
those who will believe on his name. After his 
ascension, he sent the Holy Spirit to convict 
men of sin, to quicken them to life, and to 
sanctify; and thus execute the perfect salva¬ 
tion he had purchased upon the cross. On a 
mediatorial throne at the right hand of his 
Father, “he ever liveth to make intercession for 
us.” Yes, the provision for man’s salvation is 
complete. Deliverance from all sin is now ob¬ 
tainable through the abundant grace of God. 
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for 
ye are not under the law, but under grace.” 
“For the grace of God that bringeth salva¬ 
tion hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, 
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should 
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this pres¬ 
ent world” (Tit. 2: 11, 12). Here again we are 


292 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


reminded that now is the time of full salvation. 
It is not in some future time, but “now being 
made free from sin, and become servants to God, 
ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end 
everlasting life” (Rom. 6:22). It was in this 
dispensation that the blood was shed which 
“cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). “Be¬ 
ing then made free from sin, ye became the serv¬ 
ants of righteousness” (Rom. 6: 18). And “he 
that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he 
[Christ] is righteous” (1 John 3:7). This 
happy state, we are glad to tell you, can be 
enjoyed throughout all our days on earth; for 
God has promised to “grant unto us, that we, 
being delivered out of the hand of our enemies 
might serve him without fear, in holiness and 
righteousness before him, all the days of our 
life” (Luke 1:74, 75). This is a life free from 
committing sin. For “we know that whosoever 
is born of God sinneth not; but he that is be¬ 
gotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked 
one toucheth him not” (1 John 5: 18). “Who¬ 
soever abideth in him sinneth not” (1 John 3:6). 
While it is true that this is a world of sin in 
which we are surrounded by evils of all kinds, 
yet “the Lord is faithful who shall stablish you, 
and keep you from evil” (2 Thess. 3:3). Yes, 



WILL THERE BE ANOTHER CHANCE? 293 


dear reader, lie “is able to keep you from fall¬ 
ing, and to present you faultless before the pres¬ 
ence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). 
Paul says, “God is able to make all grace 
abound toward you; that ye, always having all 
sufficiency in all things, may abound to every 
good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). God could do no 
more for mankind in a future age than he has 
provided for and promises to do in this dis¬ 
pensation of grace. Since salvation in all its 
fulness is now attainable, it follows that no other 
chance will be given. 

Fourth , In the last grand commission Christ 
gave to his ministry, he commanded them: “Go 
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
every creature”; “Go . . . teach all nations.” 
He also said that “repentance and remission of 
sins should be preached in his name among all 
nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” And this 
gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to 
every one that believeth” (Rom. 1:16). But 
“he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 
16: 16). And when “this gospel of the kingdom 
shall be preached in all the world for a witness 
unto all nations; then shall the end come” 
(Matt. 24:15). This is positive proof that 


294 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


the gospel now offers the last opportunities of 
salvation to a lost world. 

Fifth , The door of the kingdom is now open. 
“Behold, I have set before thee an open door, 
and no man can shut it” (Rev. 3:8). The 
present invitations of the gospel are universal. 
In Matt. 11:28 Jesus says to all the sin-laden 
of mankind, “Come unto me, all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” 
and “Ye shall find rest unto your souls.” The 
prophet Isaiah speaks thus of God’s invitation 
to the world during the Christian era; “Look 
unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the 
earth”; “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye 
to the waters, and he that hath no money.” 
“Whosoever will, let him take of the water of 
life freely.” And the promise is, “Him that 
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” No 
opportunity of salvation will be offered to 
Adam’s race beyond the present gospel of 
Christ. 

Sixth , How can men expect to escape the 
wrath of God who presume upon such mercies 
and reject such offers? Yea, “how shall we 
escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 
2:3). To this there is but one answer: “For 
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the 


WILL THERE BE ANOTHER CHANCE ? 295 


Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For 
when they shall say, Peace and safety; then 
sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail 
upon a woman with child; and they shall not 
escape ” (1 Thess. 5:2, 3). “If the righteous 
scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and 
the sinner appear?” (1 Pet. 4: 18). 

Seventh , God “now commandeth all men 
everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). And to 
this command we may couple the solemn warn¬ 
ing, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise 
perish” (Luke 13:3). 

Eighth , In the present gospel of Christ the 
church and world are given the most solemn 
warnings of impending judgment, which will fall 
upon the world of the ungodly in the last great 
day; and all are urged to be ready for this great 
event. The coming of Christ is a great and 
solemn event pending, for which the church is 
to look and watch, and for which it is to be 
ready. “Watch therefore: for ye know not 
what hour your Lord doth come” (Matt. 24: 
42). “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, 
that that day should overtake you as a thief. 

. . . Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; 
but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thess. 5:4-6). 
“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an 


296 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” 
(Matt. 24:44). The revelation of Jesus Christ 
from heaven will be a day of wrath, when God 
“shall render to every man according to his 
deeds” (Rom. 2:5, 6). The inhabitants of 
the world are now warned to “flee the wrath 
to come.” Peter tells us of that awful day 
of fire; the great day of the Lord , when this 
earth and all the works in it shall be burned up; 
which he tells us will be “the day of judgment 
and perdition of ungodly men.” In view of all 
this, hear his solemn warning: “Seeing that all 
these things shall be dissolved, what manner of 
persons ought ye to be in all holy conversa¬ 
tion and godliness, looking for and hastening 
unto the coming of the day of God” (2 Pet. 
3:11, 12). “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that 
ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may 
be found of him in peace, without spot, and 
blameless” (v. 14). Holiness of heart and life 
is urged upon the church as the necessary prep¬ 
aration to be ready to stand before the Son 
of Man. 

Ninth , The current age will end with the 
coming of Christ, at which time “the Lord Je¬ 
sus himself shall be revealed from heaven with 
his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking ven- 


WILL THERE BE ANOTHER CHANCE ? 297 


geance on them that know not God, and that 
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 
who shall be punished with everlasting destruc¬ 
tion from the presence of the Lord, and from 
the glory of his power” (2 Thess. 1: 7-9). But 
why multiply texts of Scripture? Such are the 
solemn warnings of the gospel to men who would 
dare to neglect the salvation of their souls. 
“Now,” “today,” is held out by the hand of 
Infinite Mercy as the last offer of salvation. 
Salvation can be obtained only on this side of 
the coming of the Lord. Christ now reigns 
upon a mediatorial throne; and the instant he 
leaves that throne, the world will be without an 
advocate, without a Savior, without further 
chance of salvation. “When once the master of 
the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door , 
and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at 
the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; 
he shall answer and say unto you, I know ye 
not whence ye are. . . . Depart from me, all 
ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abra¬ 
ham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, 
in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves 
thrust out” (Luke 13:25-28). 


298 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


THE FUTURE KINGDOM OF GLORY 

Jesus in speaking of the signs that were to 
take place before his second coming, said, 
“When ye see these things come to pass, know 
ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand” 
(Luke 21:31). In 2 Tim. 4:1 it is said that 
Christ “shall judge the quick and the dead at 
his appearing and his kingdom.” 

There is no question, that these texts have 
clear reference to the future; but we deny that 
they teach Christ’s kingdom and reign here on 
the earth as yet future. The promise that we 
shall some day enter the kingdom of glory above, 
is given to those, who here on earth, enter the 
kingdom of grace. Paul said it is through much 
tribulation we “shall enter the kingdom of God.” 

Christ will come with power and great glory, 
accompanied by tens of thousands of his holy 
angels. It is said that then “he shall sit on 
the throne of his glory” and at that time every 
knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess 
to God. This triumphant climax of Christ’s 
great reign can properly be termed the appear¬ 
ing of his kingdom. It is no doubt with ref¬ 
erence to this very thing that Paul said “he 
shall judge the quick and the dead at his ap- 


FUTURE KINGDOM OF GLORY 


299 


pearing and kingdom.” But heaven itself, with 
all the glories it contains, which will be the fu¬ 
ture abode of the redeemed, is properly termed 
the “everlasting kingdom of God.” It is the 
eternal kingdom of glory, the happy state of 
the redeemed in the great hereafter. Speaking 
with direct reference to this future state, Peter 
says, “For so an entrance shall be ministered 
unto you abundantly into the everlasting king¬ 
dom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” 
(2 Pet. 1:11). No doubt Jesus referred to this 
blessed future state when he spoke of “that day 
when I drink it new with you in my Father’s 
kingdom” (Matt. 26: 29). “Then shall the 
righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom 
of their Father” (Matt. 13: 43). To the saints 
on earth, this encouraging promise is given: 
“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit 
with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, 
and am set down with my Father in his throne” 
(Rev. 3:21). 

Instead of teaching a future literal kingdom 
to be set up in this world, all these texts teach 
the glories of that future kingdom above, the 
state of the blessed in heaven itself, which will 
be our future and eternal home. In that world 
“they shall see his face; and his name shall be 


300 


CHRIST’S KINGDOM AND REIGN 


in their foreheads. And there shall be no night 
there; and they need no candle, neither the light 
of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them 
light: and they shall reign for ever and ever ” 
(Rev. 22:5). 


PRIMITIVE CHURCH GOVERNMENT 
By H. M. Rlggle 

This booklet shows the kind of government 
under which the early Christian church existed. 
It thoroughly explains the terms ‘‘ elder,” “evan¬ 
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“bishop,” and “deacon,” from the Scriptural 
usages of the words. These are but a few of 
the interesting explanations given. Extracts 
from the Bible as well as from History, are used 
to explain and substantiate the statements. Noth¬ 
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proof. 

56 pages. 5 cents each. 40 cents a dozen. 


HELL AND EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT 
By H. M. Rlggle 

It is surprizing how many believe the teach¬ 
ings of those who seek to overthrow the doc¬ 
trine of everlasting punishment. When a man is 
thoroughly convinced that he will simply be 
blotted out of existence and thus be freed from 
the sense of eternal misery, he will in many 
cases, prefer a life spent in sinful pleasure to a 
life spent in humble Christian service. When a 
man is deceived on one subject, he may become 
a prey to other false spirits and be more easily 
deceived on other subjects. This booklet gives 
Bible teachings concerning hell; it shows that 
the wicked will be punished, not simply anni¬ 
hilated. Books are among the necessities of life 
—true, deep spiritual life. To attain to the 
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one read the books that will help him better 
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CHRISTIAN BAPTISM, The Lord’s Supper, and 
Feet-Washing 
By H. M. Biggie 
The writer plain¬ 
ly shows by Scrip¬ 
ture and other re¬ 
liable evidence 
that baptism by 
immersion is the 
only method prac¬ 
tised in the early 
Christian church. 

The truth concern- 
i n g the Lord’s 
Supper and feet- 
washing is given 
in a comprehen¬ 
sive and convinc¬ 
ing manner. 

Part I. Baptism 
Scriptural Testi¬ 
mony and Exam¬ 
ples of Immersion; 

Sprinkling Not 
Baptism; The 
Voice of History— 

Infant Baptism; Proper Candidates for Baptism; 
The Design of Baptism; Born of Water and of 
the Spirit; John’s Baptism. 

Part II. The Lord’s Supper 
What Constitutes the Lord’s Supper? Did 
Christ and His Disciples Eat the Passover? 
When Was the Lord’s Supper Instituted? What 
It Teaches; Who Are Worthy? 

Part III. Feet-Washing 
Feet-washing Commanded; Christ Instituted 
It; Time and Place of Its Institution; To Be Ob¬ 
served in Public Assembly of Saints; The Re¬ 
ligious Aspect of Feet-washing; Delivered to 
the Churches by the Apostles; Historic Proof. 

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